Protectors
by Araceil
Summary: All Might finds an unwanted baby on a doorstep, and the future takes a few steps to the left. Fatherhood, Heroing, growing pains, and love. Everything and nothing changes, all at once. Erasermight.
1. Chapter 1

**PROTECTORS**

 _ **000**_

All Might finds an unwanted baby on a doorstep, and the future takes a few steps to the left. Fatherhood, Heroing, growing pains, and love. Everything and nothing changes, all at once.

 _Slash, Pre-canon, semi-AU, Magic and Quirks exist._

 _ **000**_

 **CHAPTER ONE  
**

Of all phone calls Gran Torino though he would be fielding from his former student, this was _not_ one of them.

"Baby formula?" the _foxy older gentleman thank you very much_ asked in abject bewilderment as he set his tea cup down on the grubby table of his house. "Are you shittin' me, brat?" he demanded sharply.

" _Ah, uhm, no. You see, I – he – someone left a baby on a doorstep,_ " his student explained morosely, as if he knew a scolding would be coming his way, Torino could picture the big lummox right now, drooping in his seat like a scolded pup, " _with nothing but a letter. So I gave it a quick read to figure out the situation. The child was the nephew of the home-owner, his parents had been murdered less than twenty-four hours previously. When I woke the homeowner up to inform her of the tragic news, and that apparently her nephew was now in her care, her reaction was... horrible. She told me I could throw the child in a_ river _for all she cared. Just as long as it and I never came near her again. I couldn't just_ leave _him there. And the letter said the villain that killed his parents might still have followers hunting for him! So the police and the social care system might be too dangerous and – ow! Ow, Harry, please no pulling, we don't pull hair,_ " his student yelped, begging pathetically as what was unmistakably baby-babble filled the receiver.

Torino sighed deeply, knowing that this would be a lost cause already.

"You know this is gunna put a severe crimp in your career plans, kiddo," he pointed out tiredly.

There was a moment of silence on the other end, filled only with the occasional sound of the child, Harry, vocalising as much as his underdeveloped cords would allow him.

" _I know. But... he has no one else. And really... neither did I until Sensei found me._ " Torino squeezed his eyes shut, hanging his head in a mixture of annoyance, pride, and that old aching sadness that came with remembering his bestfriend and combat partner.

"Finish your business there. I'll have the adoption papers waiting for you when you get back. And I expect you to bring him with you! I want to meet this brat," he barked down the phoneline, listening to his former student yelp, and fumble with the phone to the sound of the baby's laughter.

" _I – uh – yes, of course, I – thank you, sensei,_ " the new father blurted down the phone to Torino's noisy disgruntlement as he snapped off some instructions about googling for help, or just asking a woman at the store down the baby aisle. If they were there, then chances were they had children and would know how to help, idiot! And then he hung up, put his head in his hands, and _laughed._

By the kami, Nana, if only you could see the mess your student had gotten himself into this time!

 _ **000**_

Toshinori breathed out a deep sigh as he lowered his phone. Well, that could have gone a lot worse. Gran Torino must have been more amused by the situation than annoyed because there would have been a couple of promises for 'remedial training' thrown in if he had truly been displeased. He shuddered at the memory of his training, pausing only when he felt something hot and wet on his knuckle, and looked down to see the infant latched onto his hand, suckling hungrily on his knuckles.

He huffed a small laugh, "You must be hungry, huh?" he asked brightly, thinking briefly to lift the little boy up high, but remembering at the last moment that he was _technically_ a stranger. A strange man doing something like that would probably not be appreciated. So instead he freed his hand and adjusted his hold on the child to rest him against his shoulder and check the letter that came with him again, trying to ignore the stab of _fury_ smouldering in his veins that someone would be so callous as to abandon a child on the doorstep of such an unpleasant woman without even trying to talk to her. Though perhaps they knew what her reaction would have been. He wondered if she would have taken baby Harry in, or left him? The thinly veiled threat within the letter about people hunting for him, and how her blood would provide protection for their family if she took him in would tip the scale in the child's favour but... Toshinori gently stroked the back of his head as he felt clumsy uncoordinated fingers exploring his neck and collarbone – and slap at the underside of his chin as chubby little legs kicked out.

If she had taken the child in, he doubted the little boy would have been well cared for. And that was tragic.

Still.

"You're mine now, little tyke, I'll take care of you," he promised, this tiny life he could hold in both cupped hands, he would take care of him, and raise him.

He paused as the child grunted, straining against his shoulder, and laughed a little awkwardly as what was unmistakably a fart ripped through the back of the child's nappy. "But first, food and toiletries. And _help_."

Good thing it wasn't too early.

Finding the nearest superstore wasn't too hard, the hotel he was in was opposite the train station and literally just up the hill was an ASDA shopping centre, he remembered passing it the day before, so wasted no time in jogging his way up there, his new charge cradled in his arms. A few people looked his way, gigantism wasn't as common in the United Kingdom as other areas, so his seven foot plus frame was more than a little eye-catching, plus the baby without any form of carrier or bag... Harder to ignore were the tittering women at the supermarket when he hesitantly shuffled his way down the baby-aisle with a basket on the crook of his elbow, and little Harry in hand – literally.

There was so much stuff.

Where did he even start? He peered helplessly at the vast array of babywipes laid out in front of him, everything from ASDA own brand at ninety-nine pence a packet, to Johnsen's Baby skin kind at three pounds eighty five pence. One that was apparently aloe vera rich, and another that was extra moisturising, and one that boasted a protective layer of _something_ that was somehow breathable?

Was fragrance free important? A lot of them advertised fragrance free.

A woman giggled behind him and he felt his ears turn a little pink.

"Need a hand?" a girl at his elbow asked, a spray can of deodorant from the otherside of the aisle in hand – the baby section also shared space with feminine hygiene as well. She looked a little too young to be a mother, but thus far she was the only one to offer him any aid so he grabbed onto it desperately.

"Yes, I ah, I recently came into this little fellow here. And I'm a bit at a loss," he admitted, gesturing sheepishly to the wipes, "I don't – is fragrance free important?" he asked worriedly.

The girl shrugged, "Sometimes babies have really sensitive skin, and perfumes can irritate it. I was actually allergic as a kid, used to get horrible rashes," she explained before reaching up and collecting one of the blue ASDA's own packets with a plastic lid. "This is the kind I used."

"Oh, you're a parent?" Toshinori found himself asking in surprise.

She shrugged a shoulder, "I was a bit of an idiot as a teenager. Anyway, this was the kind that I tended to use with Alicia. Are you looking for everything, or just wipes?" the young woman asked, pushing stray strands of bottle blonde hair from her tanned face.

"Everything. I – all I was given was his blanket," he admitted quietly, aware of how suspicious a man with a baby and no idea how to care for it or supplies to do so might be. But, it was the truth.

The woman huffed and chucked her can of deodorant into her basket, "Well, I have nothing pressing to do for the next," she checked her watch, "six hours until school let's out. Buy me lunch and I'll help you out, how about it?" she offered with a grin. "I'll even teach you how to feed and change the little one properly, since I figure you're not too familiar with it?" she teased kindly.

Toshinori chuckled a little self-consciously, rubbing the back of his neck, "Ahh-haha, yes, thank you, and please. I'll be happy to pay for lunch in exchange, thank you very much. I'm Yagi, nice to meet you," he greeted with a little bow, as much as he could with the baby, "And this is Harry."

"I'm Laura, and hi there Harry," she cooed sweetly to the baby as he waved his fists at her. "How old is he?" she asked as she collected another two packets of the blue wipes to drop into Toshinori's basket.

He quickly calculated the dates in his head, and felt a painful twist in his stomach, "About three months yesterday," he explained.

"So you'll definitely be wanting new born stuff. Okay. And you said everything. We're going to need a trolley you realise," she pointed out dryly.

"I return to Japan at the end of the week, I was hoping just to get the essentials until I could get home," he told the young woman as she whisked two packs of newborn nappies into his basket – which was already over three quarters filled with just those five items.

She gestured to his basket with a grin, "You're going to need a trolley," she repeated in amusement.

They went and got a trolley.

 _ **000**_

Laura was a _lifesaver_.

With her help, he got everything he needed for the short-term, and some really good practical advice for how to take care of a child. Tips on checking temperatures, how to bathe properly, burping after meals, how to recognise teething pains and best ways to handle that, even clothing suggestions. ' _I know all those little outfits are super cute, but he's going to grow like a damn weed. Best to keep him in baby-grows for as long as possible or you're just going to waste your money,_ ' she had explained while they ate lunch at a cafe-restaurant that didn't mind them occupying the ladies room to teach Toshinori how to properly change a stinky nappy.

A lot of Laura's advice was like that. How to provide the best care possible at the cheapest cost possible.

He supposed that if she were a teenage mother, there hadn't been a lot of support for her, and she hadn't had the same career opportunities, meaning funds were tight. Mentally he vowed to remember as many of them as possible because it might help someone else if ever he encountered them, no knowledge was useless knowledge after all.

The young woman left him after their meal in order to go and finish her own chores for the day before picking her children up from school, leaving Toshinori to take Harry and their mass amounts of bags back to his hotel – good thing he was a Pro-Hero or there was no way in hell he could handle it all in one trip. Though he most certainly looked comical with the bags and the baby, people were leaning out of their cars as they passed him, shouting praise for some reason.

"YES MY SON! THAT'S HOW MEN DO IT!"

"EVERYTHING IN ONE TRIP – WE DIE LIKE MEN!"

He had a few people ask if he needed help, he noticed that it was mostly older men and young women that did, but he was actually quite alright with it all, the bags barely weighed anything and with his strength his only concern was that he was accidentally going to destroy something against a wall or a car. English people were weird, he decided as he finally reached the hotel and began to climb the stairs with his purchases – there were too many bags to take the tiny lift without dropping something, and since the baby was the only thing not actively looped around his wrists, he didn't want to risk it.

Carefully, he laid Harry out on the bed and then dropped all of the bags, the three month old was sleeping soundly, fingers flexing with whatever dreams it was he was having.

Toshinori sat down on the floor next to the bed and stroked one of those tiny hands in awe, and a little fear.

He was responsible for this tiny person.

He had been responsible for lives before, but this was different, he was going to be this little boy's whole world, the way that Toshinori treated the people around him would shape how Harry treated them too, his views and opinions would influence his, and anything that affected Toshinori, would likely affect Harry as well through him. Gran Torino wasn't wrong when he pointed out that taking on a baby would put a severe crimp in his career plans, but...

He could handle it, he thought.

 _ **000**_

 _HE COULDN'T HANDLE IT! HE COULDN'T HANDLE IT AT ALL!_

Ever since boarding the flight back to Japan, Harry hadn't stopped crying. They had booked into first class to give the majority of the passengers some peace from a baby, only Toshinori hadn't been expecting the entire thirteen hour flight to be so _painful_ for everyone. Harry couldn't stop crying, and he felt a bit like crying himself. He had been on the verge of working himself into a full panic and physically ripping open the plane in order to sprint them to the nearest doctor before one of the flight attendants managed to explain that it was the change in pressure. While they could pop their ears in order to redress the pressure changes, babies couldn't.

Eventually though, Harry fell into an exhausted tearful sleep, wearing himself out far too much for such a little thing. Toshinori could only be thankful as he cradled his little bundle against his chest in tired relief. How such a tiny bean of a person could have such a set of lungs was remarkable, perhaps he had a voice quirk of some nature? His aunt certainly had one, her voice twanging through the air shrilly in a decidedly non-average manner. It would be something to keep an eye on.

For now, he planned on getting some sleep while Harry was out for the count as well. Hopefully there would be less tears when the little one was awake.

 _ **000**_

Gran Torino was waiting for him at the airport. And it wasn't like Toshinori could ' _not see him_ ' when both of them were the only people at Departures at seven feet tall and _blond_.

"So, this is the little Sprout, huh?" the old man demanded as Toshinori left the gate, suitcase wheeling behind him, shoulderbag with everything Harry needed on his back, and the baby against his shoulder, sleeping soundly and much more comfortably now they were no longer on the plane.

The blond youth nodded, "Yeah. Wore himself out on the plane," he admitted sadly as he adjusted his grip on his luggage – and found it promptly taken out of his hands by his old sensei.

"Well, quit gaping. Let's get back home so we can feed the little Sprout," Torino grunted as he began to march off towards the train station, Toshinori's suitcase over one muscular shoulder.

They managed to find a few seats towards the back of a carriage, sadly the quiet carriage was already full and with both suitcase and baby there was no space. So the two Pro-Heroes took spots at the back, and settled in for the next hour behind a group of school girls coming back from lacrosse practice. Torino snatched up the nappy bag Toshinori had over his shoulder the second he let it slip off, and bundled it away along with his suitcase, glowering hard enough to make the younger blond too frightened to ask for it back as he practically huddled in his seat with the baby.

"That shoebox of yours," Torino commented flatly, "You're going to have to move you know."

Toshinori winced, thinking to the little shoebox flat he had and how it was no where near large enough for a baby. And how his neighbours were of the age where drunk and noisy was the name of the game, no, it was not the best environment for an infant. He was going to have to make a _**big**_ debut in order to get signed for a high earning office, the down-payment for his contract would hopefully be enough to afford at least a two room house in a better part of town, or even just a better _flat_. He wasn't picky. Just somewhere safe to raise Harry would be good, because he was committed now. He wasn't going to be giving up, he gave his word.

Harry grunted, drawing their attention down as bleary green eyes peeked open.

He smiled and Toshinori could feel himself grinning back, rubbing one chubby pink little cheek with a finger, "Hey there sleepy head, feeling better now we're not on that flying tube?" he cooed, completely oblivious to how Torino was craning his head and shuffling closer, nose twitching every now and again (he wanted to hold the baby too but wasn't going to admit it).

Harry kicked his legs out again, grinning toothlessly up at the two of them, hands waving enthusiastically as he rubbed a finger against the baby's cheek, cooing over how cute he was. If Toshinori remembered this right, and he'd definitely spent long enough scrolling through his phone in the departures lounge, at three months little Harry was only just becoming aware of the world around him. His eyes finally being clear enough to actually register what he was seeing, and his brain developing enough to understand cause and effect – I touch this thing and my hand feels something, or I hit this thing and it moves, I scream and someone gives me food. In other words, he saw Toshinori and he _smiled_ because he saw him!

His heart was going to burst, Harry was just too cute. He fell just a little bit more in love with every wriggling kick this tiny bean gave.

And then he burst into flame.

"Eh?" Toshinori squeaked.

"Ah," Torino grunted, his eyes widening.

" _ **AHHHHHH!**_ " Toshi screeched, leaping to his feet, baby held aloft in horror as he tried to blow the flames out, brush them off, without setting anyone or anything else around them on fire. Several of the girls yelped and squealed when a giggling ball of flames swished in their general direction. " _BABY ON FIRE! BABY ON FIRE! W-WATER! WATER-WATER!_ "

A boy from further up the train rushed over with his water bottle, his bestfriend fast behind him, the girls squealing and parting for them and trying to get away from the flaming baby who was still giggling in Toshinori's palms as both he and Gran Torino desperately tried to pat out the fire without hurting him. The dark haired boy shifted into a better position and activated his Quirk, dark hair standing on end as if in a wind tunnel as his eyes glowed red – and Harry went back to being pink, wriggly, and leaving the only testament to the incident being the strain on Toshinori's racing heart and grey hairs in Torino's beard.

The blond breathed a sigh of relief, drawing Harry up against his chest tightly as he baby wriggled enthusiastically, "Ahhh, saved. You're my hero, kid! Thank you so much!" he exclaimed to the dark haired boy who slouched self-consciously behind his blond friend.

"It's fine," the teenager mumbled, shoulders drawn up as he looked away.

"More importantly, are your hands alright mister?" the blond one exclaimed _loudly_ , his voice twanging through the air indicating a vocal quirk of some degree.

Toshinori glanced down at his hands, which were currently full of baby. Harry grinned at him and flailed his cute chubby limbs. He grinned right back down at the baby before looking back up at the boys, "Yup, they're fine!"

Harry's fire hadn't actually been hot (and if it had he wouldn't have cared all that much, as long as his hands could hold the baby, they were fine, they could wait). The flame had been more of a warm tickle than any kind of burning, but it had just been so much of a surprise that he hadn't been thinking clearly enough to have realised it wasn't dangerous. All he knew was that his baby was on fire, and fire was dangerous, thus baby was in danger.

Blondie grinned, craning his head over to make silly faces at Harry while Torino breathed a deep sigh of relief and sat down, grumbling about how he was too old for this kind of excitement. Everyone began to settle down once more, the two middle school boys quickly joining them in the back corner while the girls moved a bit further ahead to let the dark haired boy stay close at hand, in case of any more flaming baby incidents.

"Seriously, thank you. I was totally freaking out," Toshinori laughed sheepishly as he spoke to the quiet fifteen year old boy, absent mindedly ducking the vicious headslap Torino aimed at the back of his skull.

"IDIOT! How do you expect to make it as a Pro if a baby bursting into flame short circuits your brain _that_ easily?!" the old man barked angrily as the blond huddled up against the train window, shifting a shoulder to shield the baby from any further assault, pouting sadly at his teacher.

"Oh come on, old man!" he whined, "I thought he had a voice Quirk, not a fire one! Exploding baby was the last thing I expected!"

"EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED!"

No mercy. The two middle schoolers watched in varying degrees of amusement and disbelief as the two older Pro-Heroes devolved into offended bickering, stopping every now and again to comment on how useful the dark haired boy's Quirk would be in their line of work and generally ask after their plans in the future. The baby went back to sleep unnoticed by all save the dark haired boy who idly wished to join him.

 _ **000**_

Harry did not remain sleep, and by the time they reached Toshinori's flat he was hungry and letting them know about it, _at volume._ Torino grunted something about understanding what he meant about the voice Quirk as he shoved open the front door and quickly brought Toshinori's bags into the kitchen, cringing as the baby screamed harder and louder than something so small should have been able to by any reasonable assumption.

Toshinori chuckled a little painfully as he kicked his shoes off and closed the door behind him, ignoring the incredulous look on his neighbour's face when he passed by the open door and heard little Harry expressing his outrage at the world.

"Can you take him while I get a bottle made up?" the blond asked over the wailing, "I don't think I'm good enough to do it one handed just yet."

Torino looked like he wanted to refuse, but one glance at Harry's wet little face and he crumbled like cheap tinfoil. Carefully collecting the infant from Toshi's hands, he stood in stiff petrified silence with the baby crying in hungry outrage against his pectorals while his student dove into his baby bag and rummaged out a bottle and several tins. Muttering under his breath as he did about how it couldn't be cold water, and it couldn't be too hot either – oh, he needed to wash his hands too!

It took less time than Torino would have expected, but still more than he was entirely comfortable with given how wet his clothing was beginning to get with _drool_ before Toshinori was gently lifting the baby from his arms and rubbing the rubber teet of the bottle against the roof of the child's mouth. He latched on immediately, the flat falling silent instantly.

"Thank the Kami," Torino sighed, collapsing back into Toshinori's spare kitchen chair as the blond chuckled a little weakly, sitting opposite him. The two listening to the tiny little grunts and sucking noises the child gave off as his tiny fingers reached for the bottle in Toshinori's hands.

"Sorry Sensei, I know it's a bit of a – well a culture shock I guess," the blond admitted with an embarrassed grin.

Torino stared at him before turning and facing him fully, hands clasped on the table in front of him, "Toshinori. Have you _truly_ thought this through, lad?" he asked seriously, solemn in a way that the blond had never heard him be since... since Nana's passing.

"What do you mean, sensei?" the blond asked warily, guessing that this wasn't just about how to handle a baby and his career at the same time.

"I mean, Nana had to give up her son to continue her Hero work. That her child's life was in danger because of her career. Her husband was murdered. Kid, your baby's Quirk has already manifested. He isn't even half a year old yet. He's going to be _potent_ , and hard to raise. You're trying to juggle a highly dangerous career, and a child that's a walking fire-hazard. Are you _sure_ you've thought this through? How are you going to care for the kid when you're out on the job, are you going to keep him secret and hope no one notices when you're suspiciously absent when elementary school lets out, or are you going to make him so public that he'll need a Pro escort whenever he leaves the flat, or house because goddamn if you make it even half as big as Nana did you're going to have Villains looking to kill, turn, or use him every second of every day.

"Are you _sure_ about this, Toshinori? It isn't – it isn't too late to put him up for adoption. He's still three months, he wouldn't suffer any damage from it. You've had him less than a week. He won't come to any mental or emotional harm if you do," he explained softly, staring at his student firmly over the table.

His muscles twitched, rippling urgently under his skin as everything in him wanted to recoil, hide Harry from his mentor and hold him tightly. Torino undoubtedly saw, and it was pure embarrassment that had Toshinori physically swallow down the urge and look down at the infant tucked into his forearm, sucking greedily on his bottle and blinking slowly, peacefully, up at him in complete trust. It... had been pure selfishness, and probably a little arrogance that he took him. When that horrible woman had told him to throw the child into a river, it felt like his heart was ripping in two for him, to be rejected by family... That was a pain Toshinori knew well, though he was too young to remember much of it. When his Quirk hadn't come in when he was six, he had been unceremoniously put under state-care, abandoned by his parents. It resonated with him on a level he couldn't really explain, and filled him with a burning need to do right by him. An unwanted baby, dead parents, threatened by followers of a Villain, an ominous threat to protect him or suffer the consequences to a civilian woman that clearly wanted nothing to do with him... He had not considered, even once, putting the child up for adoption. Giving him up to state-care. Not once. From the moment the woman spat her vitriol at him, and he wound his arms around the tiny infant, Harry was his. Irrationally. Possessively. Completely.

He looked up at his mentor, "What's done is done," he stated flatly, firmly, "It will be difficult, I know. But I refuse to give up on him. I was hoping to ask for your help but if you are disapproving then I'll find it elsewhere, do not fear, we'll be fine," he promised intensely.

Torino sighed, "Don't be stupid lad. I'm not disapproving, I'm askin' if you know what you're getting yourself in for. Babies need constant care. Firecracker there will need feeding near-enough every two hours, changing, cuddling, right now he can't even hold his own head up. I'll help, of course I will, already brought everything I need," he admitted, jerking a thumb to a sports bag in the far corner that Toshinori hadn't seen behind the futons, "But kids aren't easy. And neither is Hero-ing. S'why so many fine Heroines retire when they get in the family way."

The blond sighed as he rummaged a dirty T-shirt from his bag to put on his shoulder, and draped Harry over it when he was finished with his bottle, remembering what Laura told him about burping as he began to rub gentle circles on Harry's back, patting him every now and again.

"I know. But... he needed me. And, he's mine now."

Torino shrugged in amusement, leaning back in his seat, "That's that then, huh."

Harry burped in agreement.

 _ **000**_

 **Family Name:** Yagi / Potter **  
First Name:** Harry / Nao / James  
 **DOB:** July 31 2080  
 **POB:** Unknown [ United Kingdom ]  
 **Father:** Unknown / Yagi Toshinori  
 **Mother:** [ Surname unknown ] Lily  
 **Quirk:** Fire Cloak – ability to cloak oneself in flame

Toshinori spent a good twenty minutes mooning over the newest Yagi's papers, practically sparkling on the train as Torino shook his head in (semi-indulgent) amusement, Harry dosing in his arms. It had taken an extended visit to the police, and then to a few officials to explain the situation, do a few more papers, etc, Toshinori had handed over his Hero Licence and sat several long exhausting interviews to determine his suitability to be an official guardian to a child. He squeaked by on the skin of his teeth thanks to the advice that Laura back in England gave him, as well as Torino's willingness to vouch for him having a support group (even if that boiled down to just him, and a few of his old classmates, Enji had children though they were a little older than Harry, Fuyumi-chan being nearly a teenager at that).

But they managed it.

Toshinori was now officially a father.

Unwilling to remove all traces of his birth-family, little Harry kept his former name, and was given a few more that he could select from if he wished. Toshinori's family name, and Nao. In honour of Nana. And then they went straight to Torino's old Hero office to register the blond for work with them, with the bullet-speed Quirk user's vouching it didn't take much before Toshinori found himself registered as All Might. His new boss even said that if he ever had need to, he could bring Harry in, he was a father himself and knew how rough it was, his office was always open as an emergency crèche.

Then it was to a real estate office to look for a new house. It felt like it was almost going too fast as between the two of them they managed to arrange a few places to look at, got their background checks approved, credit checks, etc, Toshinori had been polishing his Hero skills overseas so he had quite a bit of money stashed away in saving accounts from that work. It was more than enough to afford the few properties both he and Torino had selected.

They went home and slept, and got up the next day to shop for everything a baby would need. Toshinori spent a fair bit of money on parenting books, and if Torino dipped into his own money to buy Harry a few toys, well the blond wasn't going to comment beyond noting how the dog plushie had been so well received.

 _ **000**_

There... were very few decent houses in Minato ward, none of which Toshinori felt were child appropriate. In the end, they went for a pleasant two bedroom apartment not far from a pretty good elementary school just on the otherside of the train-tracks. With Harry being so small, he would be staying in Toshi's room, and Torino could easily make use of the other bedroom until Harry was a little more independent and he could return to his own home.

Moving in was fairly easy, it wasn't like they had much in the way of belongings outside everything Harry needed – he had more than both of them put together.

And... he knew Laura told him not to fall into the trap, warned him against the sheer temptation...

Toshinori stumbled on a number of themed onesies at the clothing store down the road, and his phone rapidly began to fill with pictures of his son.

He made his _big_ debut barely a month after he returned to Japan.

Harry popped his first tooth and let him know of his displeasure by trying to gnaw his thumb off in protest.

It was hard for Torino to say which his student was more excited about.

 _ **000**_

Now that All Might had made his big appearance, he had to keep his momentum up and put in more appearances, present himself at more crimes, and disasters, and stop more villains. Whenever Harry went down for his nap, Toshinori was out and stopping as many criminals as possible, keeping up the momentum of his big debut, keeping public interest, putting All Might front and centre of the news every evening or every day.

It was exhausting, as Torino had warned him.

But made strangely worth it when he came home and the first thing Harry would do when he walked in was lift his arms and grunt demandingly, clumsily trying to headbutt him with his jaw when close enough – it never failed to make Toshinori's heart melt at those absolutely awful attempts to kiss him. Kisses he always returned, showering his giggling little boy's face and hands. Occasionally, they would see the little tyke burst into flames again, but he never seemed to burn anything around him, or any of them. His favourite person to 'pop' on, so to speak, was of course his Dad, who no longer shrieked anymore but started to laugh, taking the spontaneous combustion as an expression of excitement, as he sometimes did it when about to be fed, or when Torino presented him with a particularly beloved toy.

Harry was beginning to explore the world around him, lying on his stomach and examining the textures of anything near-by. He wasn't quite able to sit up on his own, but he seemed to like rolling around, kicking his little legs around to get better traction, grunting and dribbling as he concentrated. Almost everything had seen the inside of his little mouth at least once. Toshinori was currently using a photo of Harry chewing on his beltbuckle as his phone background, having returned from the kitchen with a drink and found the infant on the floor gumming the cool metal enthusiastically. With his teething the poor thing was chewing just about anything cool he could get his lips around, be it Toshinori's belt buckle, the chair legs, or his plastic toys. He also developed a fascination with Toshinori's hair, and Torino's beard, gripping both, examining them intently and only occasionally trying to eat them.

Toshinori joined a local playgroup, and spent a few hours a day with a few of the local parents and children, sat with his knees drawn up as he sipped from tiny teacups and listened to the housewives gossip, absorbing as much information as he could about baking and cooking, tips for cleaning and making life easier on top of child-rearing. He was one of the few single parents, though he wasn't alone, Mrs Midoriya had a little boy born only two weeks before Harry, and the two of them bonded over not only how adorable their children were, but also how difficult it was raising them alone. Mrs Midoriya's husband had apparently been transferred overseas by his office not long after she got pregnant, she confessed that in her darker moments she wondered if he had chosen it in order to get away from her as they had been drifting apart in the more recent years of their marriage.

Either way, Toshinori found a steadfast friend in the young woman who taught him how to bake, and the best ways for removing stains in clothing, all the while Harry and her little boy Zu-chan explored the carpets together on their bellies.

Toshinori had been a bit worried about this stage, approaching six months of age, he had begun preparing little Harry for weaning, and beginning to socialise him a little more, but apparently anxiety over strangers was to be expected, crying and general clinginess as well. But Harry took to his playgroup very well, especially little Zu-chan and Mrs Midoriya, others he was a bit dismissive of, others he outright rejected.

However, the worst reaction had been when Mrs Oda came over to coo at him, he immediately burst into tears, and then into _flames_. Not the excited crackling cloak of happiness he sometimes popped, this was roaring, wild, and hot, it blazed rapidly off his tiny form and produced an uncomfortable heat as Toshinori quickly swept him up before little Zu-chan got burnt, Harry's tiny hands gripping the fabric of his shirt as he turned his face away from the woman and cried against him. The fire was _hot_ , unusually so! Harry normally only felt warm and tickley when he popped, this was the first sign of aggression and discomfort he got from his son's quirk. He frowned at the middle-aged woman that his son had taken such a dislike to, mustering up enough manners to apologise to her for the scare even though he _really_ wanted her to go away.

It wasn't until she did so, and Harry managed to calm down, his little face still red and wet, that Toshinori realised that... that feeling of displeasure had not been _entirely_ his own.

It was hard to describe, especially given how he was predisposed to dislike anything that made his son upset, but he had spoken to Mrs Oda before at the tea pot and had no issue with her, she seemed quite pleasant, interested in his job and life. She had been flirting with him if he were entirely honest, and flattering as that was, she was a married woman, so he purposefully remained 'obtuse' to her interests. But aside from that vague discomfort, it wasn't until Harry was wailing that his discomfort became outright dislike. And now it was back to discomfort.

He looked down at Harry in dismay as his baby whimpered unhappily and stared up at him with big watery green eyes.

 _ **000**_

He immediately rushed his son to their local doctor's office, (im)patiently waiting in the waiting room for his name to be called, quietly reading a storybook to Harry as his knee jogged up and down a lot faster than it humanly should have been able to do – the old woman next to him edging away with an irritated sniff while the old man in front of him grinned in amused understanding and returned to his paper.

Harry had given up paying attention to the story after the third time Toshinori had read it to him and was grabbing at the pictures with happy little squeals by the time their names were called, happier that Harry was happier now, he set the book down and quickly made his way into the doctor's office to explain the situation.

The doctor listened to him explaining his suspicions that Harry might have a secondary Quirk, unusual as that was to hear, because the two abilities were _very_ divorced – a fire quirk and an emotional manipulation one? They weren't even remotely in the same category!

Harry didn't seem to know how to feel about the doctor that knelt down in front of him, but he was in his Dad's lap so he didn't seem to be overly bothered by the stranger that began to poke and prod him – at least until the man tried to pick him up.

He did not like that.

The screech was _far_ too loud to have come from a normal human, it physically cracked the windows, and the doctor actually _dropped_ him – directly into Toshinori's swooping grab, but dropped none the less, and it took everything the Pro-Hero had not to punch the doctor through the far wall as Harry started crying again, turning away from the strange man in order to try and get away from him.

"Well! I don't know about a secondary quirk! But there's definitely more that meets the eye about your little boy here, Yagi-san!" the doctor shouted over the baby's screaming. "Allow me to call one of my colleagues in! She has a diagnostic Quirk that may help this go a little faster! And perhaps he may feel a little more comfortable with myself out of the picture!" he added with an apologetic look and a grimace as he dabbed a finger on one of his bloody ears.

Toshinori grimaced a little, feeling a stab of guilt amidst his almost visceral dislike of the man as he quickly hurried from the room. With the doctor gone, it didn't take long for him to settle his son down again, the child clinging tightly to him and sniffling in outrage and misery, clearly having decided that he didn't like this outing or today in general.

The woman that came in was, in a word, fluffy. Her clothing had to be specifically tailored around the large flats of black skin under her arms, as shiny berry black eyes observed them, she smiled revealing sharp teeth.

"Yagi-san, I'm Kikuoka-sensei, diagnostician for this clinic. Akamatsu-sensei asked me to come and give your son a quick check over," she explained as she closed the door behind her. The bat-quirked woman knelt down in front of them and smiled sweetly at Harry who sniffled angrily at her, "Hi there Harii-chan. I hope you don't mind if I give your hand a quick lick? It won't hurt a bit and you can stay right there in Daddy's lap. Can I?" she asked kindly, holding a hand out for him to make the choice as to whether or not to let her. Though how she expected a six month old to make the decision himself remained to be seen.

"L-lick?" Toshinori echoed sceptically, and a little protectively. Medical practitioner, licking his child was a bit...

She smiled in understanding, "Mm, he's too young to ask for a kiss, or a blood sample, but I do need to ingest some of his DNA to get an accurate diagnostic. Skin cells work well enough at his age, there isn't too much history written into him just yet, so I can parse everything I need from those few cells," she explained calmly. "My quirk is Bat, and while I could have taken it into a combat direction, I unfortunately have a crippling combat-paralysis. I had to be shuffled into the Support Classes at UA before I even finished my first year," she admitted with a self-depreciating laugh, "But still. I find this suits me better. It isn't as _flashy_ , but I like to think I've saved just as many lives as the rest of you Pros, maybe more in the long term. Oh, thank you young man," she cooed when Harry seemed to become too curious about her fuzzy hand to ignore her anymore and quickly grabbed at a finger.

Toshinori watched curiously as the woman, faster than Harry could react, licked his hand. The baby was so startled by the action that he just stared at his hand for a moment, before looking up at her almost indignantly. She laughed at him and patted him on the head as she got to her feet, curling her tongue over in her mouth as she hummed.

And then she stopped laughing.

"Can I ask what your quirk is, sir?" she asked as she took a seat several feet away at the desk, and began to pull several papers towards herself.

"An augmentation Quirk. I adopted little Harry here from overseas after his parents were unfortunately murdered. I – I have an appointment next week to bring him in for immunisations but after what happened today at playgroup I felt it important to bring him in immediately. Is everything alright?" he asked worriedly, Harry whimpering in his lap.

The woman sighed deeply, "I found a few concerning things, but I'm writing them down for you to read later when he's been put down for a nap. Wha- "

"Why later?" Toshinori asked in confusion.

The woman smiled wryly at him, "Because your son has a very _interesting_ Quirk. One that has a few abilities, including _empathy_ and _empathy projection_ ," she explained shortly as she continued making a few notes. "He's young now, so he's only feeding off the people closest to him, his range is about three feet, perhaps less right now, but emotions and motivations are registering with him. That was why he was fine with my examining him, but upset as soon as Akamtsu-sensei tried to lift him up. Neither of us meant any harm, but it was Akamatsu-sensei that intended on taking him out of your lap to be weighed, little Harii-chan took exception to that," she continued before folding over the strip of paper and presenting it to him. "Believe me, Yagi-san, read this _after_ you have separated yourself from your son. At this age, he will feel your emotions, echo them, and with his empathy projection _return_ them to you, heightening them. You'll be stuck in a vicious feed-back loop that may very well prompt you into an action that you cannot take back. These kinds of quirks are very dangerous.

"I'm still parsing through the information I received, but I have your e-mail on file, I'll send you my full write up when I've finished digesting the information. For now though, the best I can suggest is for you to keep a closer eye on your own emotions, and limit physical contact with individuals Harii-chan has already rejected for whatever reason. If your feel yourself becoming distressed or upset, best to set him down with a favoured soft-toy than risk him feeding on that negativity."

He took the slip of paper and tucked it into a pocket, "I see. I will bare that in mind, thank you Kikuoka-sensei."

She smiled, "Don't forget to update his Quirk registry when I get my full report to you, and if you want to come in and discuss what's on that slip of paper, I will _make_ time for you, whenever it is you need."

That... did not sound good.

 _ **000**_

Harry had been hit with a Death Quirk.

That scar on his forehead had been _**carved**_ into him via a Death Quirk that forced his own to activate to protect him.

One for All _burned_ through his body with an intensity that threatened to tear every thread of the clothing he wore to nothing, his joints _ached_ with the _burning_ need to find the Villain responsible and –

His voice strangled, he begged Torino to keep an eye on Harry before leaving the apartment.

He hunted down every single Villain within Tokyo that night, and then he kept going.

Single-mindedly he just _moved_ , his grin plastered to his numb face as he stopped criminals, saved lives, rescued goddamn _kittens from_ _ **trees**_ , instead of going home and holding his son, instead of bundling him up against his chest and kissing the wild thatch of downy black hair that smelt of baby-powder and milk and jasmine fabric softener on his clothes. Because he wanted to _destroy_ the person that dared to lay a finger on his head, that looked at him with evil in their hearts, that _**laid their hands on his child and hurt him**_. And Harry would feel every inch of his black rage.

Toshinori couldn't go home and hug his baby.

He _couldn't_ expose his baby to that. To the anger that burned like solar fire in his veins.

So he drowned it with action. With light and hope.

He drowned it in gratitude, smiles, and tears shed in relief.

And when he felt like he could breathe again...

He was in Kyoto.

And the sun was rising on a new day.

Whoops.

 _ **000**_

Torino wasn't impressed when he got back, but he didn't say anything when the first thing Toshinori did was whisk Harry up in his cloak, and sit down, right there, in the middle of the living room floor, still in his Hero outfit, One for All nothing more than a distant ember in the core of his being, and shower his son with kisses and soft promises to never let anyone hurt him ever again.

Harry seemed a little confused by the emotional feedback, but pleased enough with the cuddles and feeling of absolute safety as he babbled eagerly, chewing on his teething-ring and gripping Toshinori's long blond hair.

He called up his Hero office to tell them he wouldn't be in, he'd received some bad news and needed to take the day – by now news of his all nighter had already reached them, and his Boss had already come to the conclusion that it was a stress reaction and told him to pass the phone to Torino. Whatever his mentor said, Toshinori didn't pay attention to it, he took his son into the bathroom for a good long soak and a play in the tub.

Just today.

He would go back to his Heroing tomorrow, but today... today he needed to be with his son.

He needed to soothe the rage that continued to sleep deep inside of himself like a beast waiting for the first scent of blood.

 _ **0000**_

 **And that's the end of chapter one. I have somehow started another multi-chapter fic, this time featuring DAD MIGHT – the best of all the Mights. Dad Might, Smol Might, and then All Might. This fic will cover Harry living and growing up with Toshinori right up to his enrollment at UA and everything that involves as well as Dumbledore and Hogwarts and all THAT involves too.**

 **Strap yourselves in. There's going to be razorblades of feels hidden in this fluff, it's really a question of which will kill you first.**


	2. Chapter 2

**PROTECTORS**

 _ **000**_

All Might finds an unwanted baby on a doorstep, and the future takes a few steps to the left. Fatherhood, Heroing, growing pains, and love. Everything and nothing changes, all at once.

 _Slash, Pre-canon, semi-AU, Magic and Quirks exist._

 _ **000**_

 **CHAPTER TWO**

Updating Harii's Quirk record was... not complicated, but it was something that Toshinori spent a lot of time agonising over as he stared down at the forms and the papers that Kikuoka-sensei had e-mailed to him. It wasn't well known, in fact, it had been _purposefully_ obscured from the public, but there had been a group of villains that had gained access to the child registry and begun to abduct children with specific Quirks several years ago. And while they had never truly gained a foothold in Japan, in the Americas where All Might first made his Hero debut, they had been prolific and _rampant_. So many children had gone missing. Even to this day they were still hunting for many of them even though the majority of the perpetrators had been captured and brought to justice. All those young children sold to warlords, into slavery, to private armies owned by villains, to shady medical sciences, to demanding upper-class parents who wanted the prestige of a child with a rare or powerful Quirk.

Harii's quirk was, in a word, unique. Utterly.

Almost as much as One for All if he had to compare it to anything else.

Phoenix.

Such a simple seeming quirk until you truly took the time to understand just what it could mean for his son in the future. His Quirk was Phoenix, anything that a phoenix could do, _so could he_. Burst into flame, wield fire, teleport _through_ fire, incredible physical strength, empathy, empathic projection, vocal offence, _healing tears_ , _regeneration_... These were all abilities that his beloved child would one day grow into, one way or another.

They were all abilities that would have made him _hunted_.

Toshinori decided _against_ updating Harii's quirk record. Yes it was... naughty, but... Harii's safety would always be his first priority. That was not something he was willing to negotiate. Not when he sat on the floor of his apartment, his son lying on his belly bracketed by his legs, squeaking curiously as he examined the new All Might plush toy with clumsy fingers. It was Toshinori's first piece of merchandising, it seemed only appropriate that he give it to his son. Even if his child decided the toy was no where near as good as the real thing and pushed it to one side in order to begin the arduous task of commando crawling his way to his Daddy.

Baby Harii wasn't quite at the crawling stage yet, but he was strong enough to basically drag himself across the floor on his hands, and could roll _alarmingly_ quickly – Torino had very nearly stepped on him more than once when Harii had followed him as he walked away. His teacher had developed a bit of an amusingly mean game where he would put a toy just out of Harii's reach, and then continue to move it as the child shimmied his way across the carpet to get it. Undoubtedly it was getting the infant a lot more mobile, but it was definitely making Torino one of his least favourite people, much to their collective amusement.

Toshinori also had some amusement of his own, teasing his mentor a little over his budding relationship with Takemoto-san, one of the grandmothers in the playgroup who often came with her twin grandchildren. She had struck up a conversation with Torino the first time he brought Harii while Toshinori was off heroing, and they had ended up going out for cake together later. It was all very cute, the blond decided as his mentor snapped and snarled and worried over whether or not he was doing this right, was his outfit clean, how did you tie a tie again? It had been so many years since he'd worn anything that wasn't his Hero Outfit, it felt weird without a cape, did he smell okay, what kind of flowers should he bring, did people still bring flowers? IT'S JUST COFFEE DAMNIT STOP LAUGHING!

Really cute.

Shamefully, it took until then for Toshinori to learn the name of Harii's bestfriend beyond 'Zu-chan', Midoriya Izuku was a quiet little boy, with big _big_ green eyes so similar to his Harii's he couldn't help but favour the little boy the most out of the playgroup children. It didn't hurt that Harii clearly preferred the somewhat nervous baby's company, even if he was prone to tears and clinging to his mother. The only downside to Izuku's teariness was that it would inevitably set Harii off, thankfully it was easy to tell what the problem was when that happened due to Harii's quirk, he would wail the problem for anyone to feel if they could hear.

By the eight month mark, Harii had figured out the 'dropping' game that the other parents had warned him about. The game that all babies seemed to adore when it came to making their parents do their bidding. Still, he was so cute whenever he giggled as he dropped the soft plush cubes and toys to the floor, and grinned at him with tiny teeth peeking out from his gummy smile and bright green eyes, chubby cheeks, and fly-away tufts of curly dark hair. Often times he could only play the game for a little bit before he gave into the urge to sweep his son up for kisses and cuddles that were always happily received. Toshinori was determined that Harii would _never_ ever feel unloved, or somehow lesser just because they weren't related by blood. He might have to be absent for his Hero work more often than either of them would like, but he was damn well going to make sure Harii knew he was loved from the tips of his pink little ears to his cute little toes.

 _ **000**_

All Might was getting to be a household name now. His prior activities overseas, building up an international reputation over the years since he graduated UA had served him well, he was already an internet sensation, his name running in all the newspapers, and his constant activities – whenever Harii went down for his nap – ensured that he remained there. It was really only a matter of time before Torino's office had to pass his contract further up the pipeline, they could no longer afford to _pay_ him for the work he was performing, they were a fairly stable and solid B-rank office, Toshinori was bullnosing his way through A to S-ranked Hero work on the regular, while resolving D and C-rank street crime while he did his grocery shopping (thankfully he had yet to deal with any incidents with Harii in tow).

There was only one other A-rank office in Tokyo at that particular moment in time.

Enji took one look at him and pointedly torched his application. Not that Toshinori expected anything _else_ from his old UA rival, but it was still disappointing that the Fire Quirk user was still so childish and petty over the fact that he beat the other man in their class-rankings. Really, he would have thought Enji had grown up now that he was a father. Evidently not.

So, he had to apply for his _own_ office. Practically unheard of for a fresh hero literally not even a year into his occupancy of the area, but again, his international reputation had done wonders for him, on top of Enji's refusal to deal with him meant that it was the only avenue he _could_ pursue without becoming a Vigilante. Something which the Government was very keen to avoid given the rising _tide_ of public approval for All Might. If he turned to illegal Heroing, undoubtedly there would be _thousands_ of teenagers and adults alike who would take it as a call to arms and attempt to join him – putting themselves and others at serious risk.

It took a further two months for his application to be approved, in that time, Harii upgraded from scooting around on his bottom, to standing on his own and even taking his first, faltering steps while clinging to the furniture.

It had been pure luck that Toshinori had been there for his first words.

Weaning had been going well, Harii wasn't quite on completely solid food, but he was eating mushy fruit, soggy biscuits, and soft rice. Torino had been out on another date so Toshinori was carefully spooning fruit mush into his son's mouth, chatting happily to him about everything he had been doing that day, telling daring tales of his Hero antics while Harii impatiently slapped his hands on his high-chair table and grunted demandingly for food.

"Da! Dada daDA!" his son had exclaimed at volume, kicking his legs out as he tried to lean out of his chair to get to the spoon held so temptingly just out of reach.

Toshinori had very nearly dropped the spoon in surprise, jarred so completely out of his story that he ended up pulling the spoon away and sitting up straight, Harii hadn't liked that and slapped his hands once more on the table.

"Dada!" he exclaimed indignantly, reaching out and making grabby motions.

Toshinori probably frightened him with the roar of excitement he yelled, throwing both spoon and bowl in the air as he rushed forward and whisked Harii up out of his chair, spinning him around the little kitchen gleefully. "You said Dada! You said Dada! Oh my clever boy! My amazingly clever boy!" he yelled excitedly, smothering Harii's face in kisses.

Harii hadn't been too impressed with the delay of his dinner, and Torino wasn't too impressed with the mess Toshinori made of the kitchen, but he himself had been on cloud nine for the next week or so. Every time a petulant 'Dada' came from his little boy it was as if his heart swelled a size. It was probably because of Harii's budding empathy that 'Dada' soon became his favourite word, Torino pointing out that he was only that vocal with it when Toshinori was around only confirming that suspicion. Harii said it to make his father happy. And it did, every time. That empathy was going to have come concerning, and reassuring, repercussions for his development in the future. No one would ever be able to lie to him, he would be constantly aware of people's true feelings behind the social norms and conventions that allowed society to eek along as smoothly as it did. How would that affect his development when he met people's whose emotions didn't match their words or actions? Those white lies that children were indulged with, the way parents, guardians, and teachers would hide their true feelings behind a smiling mask in order to give their charges the best care they could without letting them know the truth... Harii was _always_ going to be aware of the truth, people's feelings behind manners and social conventions.

Thinking about how he was going to behave in those years when he learned how to talk, but hadn't yet learned his own manners or the rules of social interaction was... He could tell already it was going to be more difficult than he had first anticipated.

But, either way, knowing that Harii made a point of saying that specific word more often just because it made Toshinori happy made him melt, and love his son even more, if such a thing were even possible.

Torino had the dubious honour of being dubbed 'Ino', which he wasn't as put out over as one would have thought.

Young Izuku was 'Zuzu', and the second favourite word. Happily shrieked when taken to playgroup, and set down to his bestfriend who seemed to be a late bloomer and was still only babbling. Though Inko-san happily told him that said babbling increased a lot more whenever Harii was there to talk back, the two infants happily 'talking' to each other in completely incomprehensible nonsense as they played, and occasionally hugged, because Harii was a very cuddly child thanks to Toshinori and Torino's encouragement (they were not about to say no if Harii wanted a hug, either of them, the child quite firmly had them wrapped around his tiny little fingers).

It was only when Inko-san shy presented him with a birthday invitation that he realised. Izuku-chan was only two weeks older than Harii. Harii was nearly a year old. It had been _nine_ months since Toshinori adopted him.

Since Harii's parents were murdered.

"I – I don't – what does one _do_ for a first birthday, Inko-san?" he asked flustered as he gingerly accepted the invitation, as a rule, both he and Torino actually _dwarfed_ all of the women in the playgroup, and were typically the only men in attendance. He was also the only one receiving an invitation of the children present.

"Because they're so little, it won't be any different from a normal playdate," the kind young woman explained, blushing slightly, "Usually they're done in private with immediate family only at this age, but Harii-chan is Izu-chan's only friend, and my husband is still overseas, I didn't..." she trailed off shamefully, "I didn't want to feel alone. Izuku is surprisingly sensitive, he... would have noticed my being upset." She forced herself to brighten up, "So I thought a little birthday party, with only a few guests, would be lovely. You don't have to come, Yagi-san, if you're busy, I understand Pro-Heroes have a lot of responsibilities – " and she was off, babbling nervously as she fiddled with her cardigan sleeves, explaining herself, and excusing Toshinori from attending if he so desired, all without breathing as he watched the young woman in fond amusement. She was perhaps the closest he had to a civilian friend.

"Of course Inko-san. I'm sure Harii would be _delighted_ to attend," he assured her with a sunny smile.

She sighed in relief, and beamed a little tearfully at him. "Thank you Yagi-san. My bestfriend Mitsuki-chan will be coming with her son as well, so it shan't just be us."

"Sounds like fun."

 _ **000**_

Bakugo Mitsuki-san was... a _personality_.

A beautiful young woman only a little older than Inko-san with flawless skin that smelt very _sweet_ , and thick blonde hair, she was very boisterous and energetic, and seemed to have an equally boisterous son. Young Kacchan had already met Izuku and thus decided to ignore him in favour of investigating Harii on the playmat in the living room as Bakugo-san practically interrogated Toshinori regarding his friendship with Inko-san while the kindly woman was in the kitchen getting refreshments. He faced down villains on a daily basis, but had never actually been so thoroughly given the impression of someone being willing to rip his legs off and beat him with the soggy ends as he was when awkwardly answering the woman's probing questions. Evidentially, Inko and Bakugo-san were middleschool bestfriends, senpai and kohai that met through club activities, who had managed to stick together through thick and thin right up to their respective marriages and moving prefectures.

The party itself was _nothing_ like any party Toshinori was familiar with. They laid out a play mat, strew some toys across it, put on some children's TV shows on the modest television, and left the children to their own devices while the three of them chatted over tea and cakes. Gifts were exchanged once the food and drink were demolished and the children captured, young Kacchan didn't particularly want to be restrained on his mother's lap and wriggled furiously in order to get to Harii who seemed to be regarding the other child with wary hostility – he had not appreciated the constant poking and prodding the blond child had given him. A lot of their time on the playmat had been spent with Harii shimmying his way _away_ from the blond child, much to Bakugo-san's amusement and Toshinori's fond concern.

From Bakugo-san, Izuku received a few new changes of clothes, and books. Izuku was more interested in the box they came in, much to the hilarity of the parents present.

From Toshinori... He hadn't been sure what would have been appropriate for such a small child so did some digging, and managed to find some solid plastic hero figures, no joints and nothing to get snapped off, no matter how much the child chewed on them. It had been a set featuring the top five heroes, all of them roughly six inches high – All Might was included in the line up, along with Endeavour, Ectoplasm, Crimson Riot, and Purple Bloom, a rather popular Heroine that could sprout multiple bodyparts on whatever surface she wished, including other people.

"Oh," Inko exclaimed as she unwrapped the gift, Izuku up against her chest, the box on her knees.

"It's the newest one. I made sure there was nothing that could snap off in little mouths, and they're all washable," he explained, a little proud of himself for remembering that. Izuku was still happily shoving everything he could get his fingers on into his mouth, up to and including his mother's hair, jewellery, and clothing.

Inko smiled shakily up at him, "That's very kind of you, Yagi-san, thank you." Carefully, she unwrapped all the figurines and set them in her knees for Izuku to play with.

The day was a complete success as far as the parents were concerned.

Harii still wasn't keen on Kacchan who was _entirely_ too interested in him as far as his son was concerned, Izuku was as quiet as usual but would occasionally try to get either of their attention, but in the end all three of them were fast asleep on the mat before three o'clock in the afternoon. Harii cuddled up to Izuku, Kacchan grumpily settling on Izuku's other side.

Toshinori missed the next playgroup meet up, Torino went in his place with the invitations he made for Harii's own birthday, one for Takemoto-san's twins just for Torino to invite the grandmother along, and another for Inko-san. He wondered if it was a bit of a faux passé not to invite Bakugo-san, but Harii did not seem too keen on her son, and with his empathic projection that could make it a bad day for everyone. Harii had apparently invented a new game with Inko-san as the special guest, he was bringing _every_ toy in the playgroup to her for inspection, and then separating them into piles comprehensible only to himself, regardless of Inko's approval of said item. It was quite cute even if it did annoy the other parents a bit as they had to go hunting for their child's favoured toy once it was organised into a certain pile.

Izuku lost his Endeavour toy not even a week after receiving it, not that he particularly cared being much more enamoured with All Might and Purple Bloom, liking the bright colours and poses.

Harii's party was very similar to Izuku's in that everyone gathered at their little flat, the playmat was set out with toys, and the adults had their food and drink. Takemoto-san was chatting happily with a besotted Torino in the kitchen while Toshinori and Inko kept an eye on the children, the large TV playing a film that had the twins utterly mesmerised while Izuku and Harii waved Izuku's superhero figures at each other.

"Again, I'm so sorry, Yagi-san, I honestly don't know where it went," Inko sighed, watching the boys playing. "Perhaps I shouldn't have let Izu take them to playgroup, one of the other children probably got attached and took it," she mused sadly.

"That's quite alright, Inko-san, as long as _someone_ is enjoying them," Toshinori assured her with a chuckle. She smiled back in a little relief, and nothing more was said on the matter.

Harii's gifts were little things as much as Izuku's had been, books from Inko-san who had been very pleased when she found Harii trying to read to Izuku from the picture books at the playgroup, pointing at them and babbling ' _knowingly'_ to her young son. So from her, he received books and an All Might sweater – she teasingly said that if his hair stood on end it would have looked like him hence why she got it. Toshinori could only laugh nervously as he carefully slipped his son into it, assuring her that All Might was a hundred times stronger than him but he was flattered all the same. From Takemoto-san was a super hero mobile and a colouring book with crayons, he was getting to that age where he was going to want to do things. Torino's gift had been a silky stuffed yellow rabbit, Toshinori glowered at him when he saw that the black eye-buttons had been replaced with blue ones, recognising a dig when he saw it.

Torino laughed the second Harii shoved it out of his lap with an angry frown as he turned and buried his face into Toshinori's chest.

"Oh my, I wonder what brought that on?" Takemoto-san exclaimed.

"I swapped the eyes," Torino admitted with a grin, "Brat took offence, so now his kid took offence because Daddy's upset."

Giggles when up amongst the ladies as Toshi flushed petulantly and pouted up at his mentor, cuddling his son. "Everyone's against me!" he complained theatrically as he hugged his son to his face, "Everyone except Harii, isn't that right, sweetheart? You're on my side!"

"Dada! Daaah _Dah_!" the child yelled at volume, grabbing his long blond hair and, not pulling, but making sure he couldn't get away.

 _ **000**_

Might Offices were approved, and he was given a modest little office block to begin work.

He was so out of his depth it was unreal. But, nothing else for it. He was one guy, and he had a lot of work to do. First, he needed to arrange all the paperwork, sort out business bank accounts, make sure the building was up to code, arrange for the right permits, and then he could look into hiring a secretary and some security staff for that person. Oh, he'd need a financial team as well, wouldn't he? As well as a, oh, what was the term for them? PR team, yes, he was going to need a PR team and manager what with his constant appearances. He'd learned well in America that a Hero's image was very important and needed to be carefully managed in order to maximise popularity and business, if he was going to be able to afford secretaries and financial teams to handle any and all property damage and associated paperwork then he'd need a lot of money which was where a PR manager would come in. And oh, goodness, that included marketing didn't it? He needed a marketing team.

Even with his towering work at the Might Office, he still found himself face-timing his son every now and again, it was tragic that he couldn't be there, but that was how he witnessed Harii's first steps. Through his tablet screen in his shoebox office, surrounded by the teetering stacks of paperwork that was his unauthorised Hero activities – he now understood his former employer's frustration with him if this was what the man had to deal with on top of everyone else in the office.

It would sadly become a running theme for the next few steps in Harii's development. He either missed them entirely, or was witnessing them through a tablet screen alone in his office.

Harii was now walking unaided, it took a few weeks of concentrated effort, and he was still wobbly when he wore shoes, but barefoot he was very certain of his movements and was already beginning to run around the apartment with glee. When released at playgroup he would hold Izuku's hands while his friend tested out his balance, and took his first steps as well. Toshinori saved that little video in his dropbox, and vowed he would bring it up when the two of them were older.

It was a shame though.

With her husband overseas, and her only friends being from the playgroup, Inko was feeling her solitude a great deal, and with the increase in villain activity in the local area, she just didn't feel safe there anymore. She was moving back to her old stomping grounds, literally around the corner from Bakugo-san's house. She had it worked out, it was really beneficial for her in truth, the rent differences meant it would give her some extra monetary padding as well. The house was just too big for her and Izuku alone. She felt like she was rattling around, waiting for her husband to come home when she knew he never would. It scared her, she confessed, that horrible little house she had been given.

"It isn't that you aren't a very good friend Yagi-san!" she hastened to try and reassure him, flapping her hands anxiously, almost in tears, "You are! I may not have known you for as long but I like to think of you as a very good friend! And – and – I just _can't_ stay there anymore! I – Mitsuki – I just..." she trailed off, bursting into tears then and there.

Harii of course felt her distress from his place only a few feet away and started crying as well.

Within minutes _everyone_ in the playgroup, adult and child, was sobbing. Even Toshinori who had some immunity through exposure to Harii's various fits of tantrum and temper. He was perhaps the most put together of them all as he wrapped Inko-san in a tight hug, letting her lean against him and cry herself out. Then they had the arduous task of calming the children down.

It took a further two months, but Inko and Izuku walked out of their lives at the end of October.

Toshinori tried not to think about how Harii's birth parents left them at the same time, and instead celebrated the day that he gained a son while silently promising his unknown mother and father that he would take care of him in their stead.

 _ **000**_

All Might grew in popularity, Might Offices grew in staff members, the paperwork on Toshinori's desk grew in height, and both Harii and his photo-album continued to grow as well.

It was terrifying how fast his son was growing as he got taller and stronger, beginning to question things and identify them, learning to put his own clothes on, figuring out how to operate Toshinori's tablet, becoming increasingly independent, but remaining as eager as before to get as many cuddles and kisses as he could. Returning them just as happily as he received them. He had been utterly heartbroken with Izuku's absence, and didn't really connect to anyone else in the playgroup, but with Toshinori's increased Hero Work, he couldn't take his son all the way to Shizuoka for a playdate anymore. In place of Izuku, the rabbit that he had initially rejected became his new bestfriend, he took it everywhere and chattered to it just as enthusiastically as he had his little friend.

He would still look for Izuku whenever he went to playgroup, and even ask all the adults for 'Zuzu' and 'Inko' before toddling his way back to Toshinori and climbing into his lap where he would remain for the rest of the day. Eventually Toshinori stopped _going_ to the playgroup, if Harii was refusing to socialise then there wasn't much point as it had been entirely for his benefit.

Harii started getting clingier around that time, crying whenever Toshinori had to leave for work, gripping his legs and commanding that he stay. There had been a few tantrums on the floor of the kitchen that positively broke Toshinori's heart because he could _feel_ the fear in Harii's voice, the worry that he would vanish like Inko and Izuku. It was _so_ hard to leave, but it made him look forward to coming back all the more as Harii would come _**sprinting**_ out of where-ever it was he had been to plough into him with a gleeful shriek and a kiss.

It was around Harii's second birthday that Toshinori had to deal with a... well...

"Please take me on as your Side-Kick!"

A young man in his early twenties, clean crisp suit, immaculately cut and combed hair, and a razor-sharp glare behind narrow glasses. He had a thin, lean build, his hands were rough and calloused from hours of training, his knuckles pronounced and powerful looking, indicating he was more than likely close range, and an armoured briefcase. All Might had literally just finished with a traffic incident, taking a step away from those involved when the young man accosted him, his face set in harsh lines that bordered on desperation, even as his eyes gleamed in almost _fanboyish_ glee.

"Ahh-hahaha, I admire your drive! That's a good look on your face! But I don't accept Side-Kicks, it's my policy!" he announced, beaming broadly at the young go-getter, "Best of luck, young man!"

He launched himself away from street-level before the young man could say anything else.

It was not the last time Toshinori saw him, not by far.

 _ **000**_

At three, Harii was motoring ahead of his peers, seemingly eager to become as independent as possible as soon as possible. It was almost tragic that his baby was no longer such a baby. He couldn't fit in the palm of Toshinori's hand anymore, and why he had no problems what so ever with lifting his son up, it was now something he needed both hands for – no longer could one hand wrap around the little boy. He was dressing himself, eating without help, scorning the use of a high-chair in order to sit up to the breakfast bar like a big boy. Thankfully he didn't seem to be the fussy type like the books suggested might be a problem, he ate what he was given and new things were at least tried before they were rejected.

Toshinori found himself having to add another two floors to his Hero Office to fit the ever growing numbers of staff. The newspapers were now declaring him in outright competition with Endeavour for the slot of Number One Hero. Complete nonsense in his opinion, he just wanted to save lives, make this a safe place, and get enough money so his son never had to worry about a damn thing. Endeavour did not factor into his considerations at all, and he made sure to inform the news crews that asked him – his desires were to make this country _safe_ , nothing more, nothing less, and nothing to do with Endeavour, please stop attempting to fan the flames of a rivalry that didn't exist, thank you!

(He had no idea how much his words made the situation worse. Enji never did like being disregarded, Toshinori forgot that, forgot how _petty_ his old school friend could be. Forgot how fragile the man's pride actually was. Or perhaps, simply believed better of him.)

With a Pro-Hero as a father, and 'grandfather', it was par the course that Harii would likely try to follow in their footsteps, or be forced to deal with some degree of backlash onto himself through their work. So as soon as they were sure he was capable on his feet, Torino had him enrolled in a children's taekwondo class to learn how to protect himself, and a few other things. With Toshinori away most often, Torino seemed to think that the order of the game was distraction and exhaustion, so on top of taekwondo, he also started taking Harii to judo classes, and swimming club. By the time his father came home, Harii would have woken up from his exhausted nap and been eager to greet him at the door. Othertimes he slept on, dead to the world, until dinner time and woke up on his father's lap.

There was definitely going to be some separation anxiety for Toshinori when Harii started going to school, Torino felt, the second the two were in close proximity, they were clinging to each other. Personally he felt that fathers shouldn't be so huggy with their sons, but he also knew that was merely the voice of his own father in his ear. Harii was a happy and affectionate child, as much as he was a product of his time, he also didn't want to ruin that in the child, not after reading some of the magazine articles Toshinori had been perusing about child-behaviour and how little boys after a certain age came to associate acceptable male touch with violence and how that could affect their relationships with friends, family, and lovers of either gender in later life.

It was around this time that Harii demonstrated another quality of his Quirk that unfortunately gave Torino the closest thing to a heart attack in his life: teleportation.

News crews were something that All Might had been dealing with more often lately, so it had probably only been a matter of time before Harii saw his father on the television. It was cute to see the three year old immediately rush to the TV screen, pointing and chatting, calling for Daddy.

Less cute was when he burst into flame and then _vanished_ just as Torino returned from the kitchen with a glass of water in hand.

A glass that ended up on the floor when he realised the _baby had just vanished._

Kikuoka-sensei had warned them that teleportation _might_ have been possible, they hadn't thought it would come in before he was eight! That was when Quirks hit their first maturation point and began to get stronger, ten was the onset of puberty when it really revved up to fifth gear, but until eight, they tended to chug along doing not an awful lot beyond be flashy and annoying.

He snatched up his phone and immediately dialled Toshinori, watching him on the live-broadcast as he stiffened in the middle of his interview and reached for his phone, apologising to the host but this was his emergency line.

" _Hello?_ "

"The kid just teleported out of the flat! He saw your mug on TV and just _vanished_ , Toshi!" he blurted, snatching up a set of keys and rushing out of the flat, catching sight of the way the huge blond on the TV screen was suddenly on his feet, expression hardly changing to anyone that didn't know him.

" _I will be on the job immediately_ ," he promised before hanging up. Torino had already locked the apartment behind him and activated his Quirk – anything he said on the TV after he hung up was unheard. Torino was no where near the apartment building.

Little Harii was... not in a better position either. Clutching his bunny tightly, he found himself in the middle of an unknown street surrounded by men and women he didn't know, and Daddy nowhere in sight. He scuttled to the side of a building, green eyes wide as he felt the tang of the people around him. So many _different_ feelings! They weren't... _strong_ , but they were rather a bit like the TV in the background whenever he was reading with Daddy.

Daddy.

Harii wanted to see his Daddy. He tried to go to him, but he couldn't. He was too little, and Daddy was too far away. He only got a little bit there, he knew that, somehow. He wasn't sure how, he just knew.

He was also really tired and cold, which he didn't like, it didn't happen often, only whenever he got caught out in the rain and usually Daddy or Ino made sure he didn't get _too_ wet. He sniffled and sat down, Bunny held tightly in his lap as he waited.

Daddy or Ino would find him, they always did. He could never hide from them even when he tried.

He was cold.

And it was making him sleepy.

He sniffled, clutching Bunny tightly as he peered up at the people passing him by. It felt like forever, but was probably closer to an hour and a half or so, before the ground shook as All Might landed next to him, and in one smooth movement, scooped him up in one arm, a beaming smile offered to the exclaiming public members.

"I HAVE FOUND THE LOST CHILD!" he exclaimed even as he bundled Harii and his bunny against his chest, saluted the surroundings, and launched himself up onto the nearest roof, crouching away out of sight as he gently pushed hair from his son's face, "Harii, sweetheart, are you alright?" he asked softly.

Harii nodded, sniffing as he gripped his father's suit, "Daddy find me. Always finds me," he explained sleepily, "Bunny kept me safe."

Toshinori sighed deeply in relief, thanking any higher being that might have existed from Odin to Gilgamesh and even Yahweh, that Japan had a far dimmer view on public disturbance than America. A lot child here was not the _pants_ wetting terror incident as it would have been over there. It was a safer place for children, even ones as young as Harii left unattended. Though he still would not have entertained the thought without knowing where his son was.

"Let's get you home, and then talk to Torino-jiichan about getting a special bracelet for you," he decided as he bundled his son up in his cape and jumped from the roof again. If Harii was going to be teleporting places, then they were going to need to get him some manner of tracking device.

 _ **000**_

"PLEASE ALLOW ME TO BE YOUR SIDEKICK!"

He was back again.

This time managing to catch Toshinori outside his apartment block as he was trying to sneak in after a day of hardwork. The utter _horror_ that suddenly spiked through his system was probably his excuse for what happened next – between one breath and the next, he snatched the young man up and sped them to a building a good two blocks away and dumped him on his backside. He could _**not**_ allow any connection between All Might and his _son_ to exist. It was probably that panic that prompted him to yank the young man away from where he could see his son plastered against the window of the third floor watching him try to sneak in eagerly. Harii was always more attuned to Toshinori and Torino than other people in his life, whether that was through effort or simple familiarity remained to be seen, but his range for feeling them was greater than when he was trying to feel other people.

"You truly do not take no for an answer, do you?" he demanded in exasperation as the young man got to his feet and brushed himself off, looking a little perturbed by how swiftly he was removed from the site, but that was about it. That was a surprisingly subdued reaction from someone he had just manhandled faster than he had really shown himself to be – he had been too focused on getting him _away_ from Harii to bother trying to reign his reaction in. Not many took the full scope of his strength or speed with such calm.

"My policy is not to take Side-Kicks, for their _own_ safety!" he added, holding a finger up under the young man's nose when he opened his mouth to object. "A and S-ranked Hero work is no small matter, young man! Something which I know you are aware of! So why continue to chase and demand, knowing it is beyond you?" he demanded.

The young man adjusted his glasses, "I want to help. I greatly admire your physical prowess, your combat instincts, I wish to help you maximise your abilities and help many many more people." He didn't stop there though, clearly he had been practicing this speech for a while, it was far too rehearsed to be something brought up on the fly. He even opened up his briefcase to show the various Villain analysis papers he had, crime correlations, Quirk breakdowns, battle tactics that even Toshinori had to admit that were perfectly tailor made for him in all honesty. The lad, by the Hero-Designation of 'Sir Nighteye', was well prepared and determined. He was not a combat specialist, but his support Quirk of Foresight could make Toshinori's life a lot easier when it came to the more difficult investigative S-rank tasks he had been charged with, as the only Hero on attachment to the up and coming _highly_ lucrative Might Office, he was going to need more support than his general staff could handle as work began to come in at a rate even _he_ would find swamping. A side-kick was going to be essential in the coming years of his career, probably more than one.

Toshinori stared hard at him, no sign of his usual smile, letting the silence stretch uncomfortably when the young man had said his piece and was now waiting for his verdict, fists clenched, stubbornly meeting his eyes even though his whole body was drawn taught like a string ready to snap.

He did not try to justify himself further. Which, he could respect that.

"I will not be deterred, All Might," he said instead, quietly intent, a promise as well as a warning.

Toshinori sighed deeply, almost in defeat, there was really only one test remaining, literally only just coming to his mind. He would need to spin an appropriate lie to explain it, but – yes, _yes_ that could work, quite nicely.

"Very well, _however_ , you have one remaining trial. I need to drop off some papers to my personal secretary. His son will be your final test," he explained shortly, turning and jumping to the other roof – alright, perhaps there was more than one test, if this lady couldn't keep up then there was no hope for him.

But, much to his surprise, Nighteye followed him without hesitation, that neat salaryman style hiding a lot more than just a keen mind as with two clicks, the youth used some manner of hand-held device to jump-boost himself over the gap between buildings on Toshinori's heels. Impressive. He nodded briefly and bolted for home, pulling his phone out and quickly texting Torino an explanation to give Harii. His son was clever. Knowing that there was a stranger coming in and he had to play pretend that Daddy was All Might and not Daddy would ensure he didn't go saying anything he shouldn't have until this Sir Nighteye had been vetted via his empathy. Toshinori knew some people at the precinct, one in particular with a _memory erasure_ Quirk, often used to prevent villains from remembering the faces and names of the officers that arrested them, thus preventing them from targeting family members in revenge.

If Harii rejected this young man, then Toshinori would slam him into Officer Genji's desk hard enough to break it.

Nighteye kept up easily enough, and when they arrived at the front door, Toshinori could hear Harii chatting to his bunny about how they had to play pretend and how Bunny wasn't allowed to say anything about Daddy to the strange man. It was so cute he flinched a little, wanting nothing more than to burst in and whisk his baby up into a cuddle then and there. But, ahhh, company...

He knocked politely and Torino opened the door a little later with a scowl as he observed the rather startled young man behind Toshinori.

"You're late," he barked instead to the blond.

"My apologies. I was held up," he explained awkwardly as the door was opened fully and Torino let them in, playing his part perfectly, thankfully he wasn't in his hero gear, that shirt was actually one of Toshinori's meaning that he _had_ been, but had bullet-dressed himself into something less Heroic.

Harii watched him with big green eyes, practically hiding behind his bunny, Toshi couldn't help but wink at him as he walked in and carefully took his shoes off. He saw the way his son's eyes crinkled before they slid past to land on Nighteye just before Torino stepped forward and swept his little bean up protectively. Toshinori could barely keep up with the old man when he went full throttle, and with the window open, the blond had little to no doubt that if this went south, his Mentor would be gone with Harii faster than either of them could blink. That was reassuring.

Nighteye was staring at the child, "This... is my test?" he asked warily.

Toshinori leaned back against the fridge as Torino rubbed a hand down Harii's back, whispering in the child's ear, Harii in turn was suspiciously eyeing Nighteye from afar, even as his little green eyes took on a more... _golden_ tint. He was actively reaching out to sense him, something he had not actually tried before.

"Indeed, young Nighteye. With my sudden rise in popularity, I find myself surrounded on all sides by those who would see me fall, falter, die. My policy against Side-Kicks is not one only for their safety, though that is one of my primary concerns, no, my personal life is one that must _never_ be known to the public, even in whispers. A Side-Kick would be one of the few individuals privy to that personal life," he explained easily, keeping a close eye on Harii as well as the young man who wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Harii was staring unnervingly at the young man who was looking between the two of them with a bead of sweat beginning to shimmer on his temples. Toshinori could almost smell the smoke from his overheating brain as he tried to understand and comprehend just why All Might's personal life was such a valuable thing to him.

"You _could_ become that Side-Kick," he stated, watching as young Nighteye straightened, and Harii did so along with him, "But only with Harii-chan's approval."

Nighteye jerked and immediately looked at the child, "He's _three!_ "

"I'm four."

"He's also the most powerful empath either of us have met," Torino snapped out protectively, "Watch your tongue. Quirks aren't dependent on age."

Harii then chose this time to pipe up, "What's your name?" he asked loudly.

Nighteye stared at the child, opening his mouth to probably snap something before his breath wooshed out unhappily, "Miyazaki Daichi, with the characters for 'great wisdom', my hero name is Sir Nighteye," he explained _almost_ gently.

"I'm Yagi Harii. I don't know how to read yet, so I don't know what my characters are," the child confided easily, "Why do you want to be O-All Might's side-kick?" he asked simply.

Nighteye sighed, "It's complicated."

Harii tilted his head, "Do you want to help him stop bad people?" he asked lightly.

Nighteye rolled his shoulders, a little frustrated because it wasn't that _simple_ but, he supposed for a child... "Yes."

"Do you want to help people?" Harii continued blithely.

The green haired young man huffed slowly, "Yes, I suppose at the most basic level, that's the best explanation," he admitted grumpily, unaware of the smile his 'interrogator' was hiding behind his bunny.

"Do you like All Might, Miya-san?" he asked.

"Yes. All Might has my complete respect, and admiration!"

Harii beamed at him, "Daddy's the best, isn't he?!" the child exclaimed before he burst into flames and landed on the otherside of the room, directly in his father's arms. "Miya-san is nice!" he declared cheerfully, "He didn't lie _once_! He's a good boy! Do we have mocchi for him?" he continued sweetly, completely ignorant to the open jaw and horrified expression of All Might's new sidekick behind him.

Toshinori laughed as he planted a kiss on his son's cheek, "Good boy's get mocchi, huh? I think that's a rule I can get behind!"

"No sweets before dinner, damn it!" Torino barked at the pair as he moved into the kitchen, "And go get washed up, ya brat! You're stinking out the place!"

"Bathtime!" Harii groaned, slumping bonelessly in his father's arms with a level of dramatics entirely inappropriate for the situation.

In front of Nighteye's disbelieving gaze, his idol laughed and promptly dangled the child (his son, All Might's son, All Might had a _son_ that had _empathy_ **and** _flame teleportation_ ) upside down over his shoulders, "Tell you what, we'll make it as hot as we can handle, yeah?" he suggested brightly, the little boy immediately perking up enthusiastically.

"Super hot!" he crowed excitedly.

"With lot's of bubbles!"

"Don't waste water, you brats!" the old man bellowed from the kitchen, "Oi, four eyes, in here, let's talk."

Daichi swallowed nervously as he glanced over to the old man who, upon a second more careful look, definitely had the muscle, scarring, and posture of a Pro Hero, nothing _former_ about it. This man was still on active duty, and had the expression to match as he beckoned him into the kitchen and away from the parent and child duo actively ignoring him.

All Might had a child. That was why he had refused all Side-Kicks before now.

Daichi knew the single weakest point of the world's greatest Hero.

A four year old child.

 _ **0000**_

 **I was going to add more after this, but it was** **such** **a good scene to cut off at, so here you go guys. Chapter two of Protectors! Izuku has moved closer to Kacchan, Nighteye has joined the Yagi family, and Toshinori has begun Might Tower – or rather, the modest beginnings of Might Tower.**


	3. Chapter 3

**PROTECTORS**

 _ **000**_

All Might finds an unwanted baby on a doorstep, and the future takes a few steps to the left. Fatherhood, Heroing, growing pains, and love. Everything and nothing changes, all at once.

 _Slash, Pre-canon, semi-AU, Magic and Quirks exist._

 _ **000**_

 **CHAPTER THREE**

"From the look on yer face, I don't need to explain the severity of what you just learned, do I?" the old man observed as he moved around the small kitchen, kettle set to boil as he pulled down a teapot and a box of something sweet and fragrant.

Daichi glanced over his shoulder to where he could hear the father and son duo moving around in the other room, "I had no idea," he murmured.

"Well that was the _general_ idea of it, wasn't it?" the old man retorted scornfully making the green haired man grimace a little at the not so subtle reprimand. "As of right now, everyone in the world that knows All Might has a child is in this apartment. And that's the way it's going to stay, **right**?" he continued darkly, setting an empty teacup in front of Daichi with a very final sounding _thunk_ as dark eyes locked on his face.

He was actually insulted. Bristling furiously in his suit his eyes narrowed on the impertinent old man attempting to bear down on him, "Of course. Not a word of this will pass _my_ lips," he stressed firmly. His respect for All Might, for his work, everything, the ten years he spent crime-fighting, working on disaster relief, investigation collaborations, even para-military and counter-terrorism overseas in the west, his work here in Japan, the way he arrived, his debut (All Might probably did not know that Daichi's mother was one of the people he pulled from that wreckage), and the way he made leaps and bounds ahead in his standing, opening his own Hero Office, becoming an _**S-ranked Office**_ within five years, within _**two**_. His respect for All Might was unparalleled. Now he learned that his idol had done all this while raising a family. Truly, All Might was an incredible man.

The old man nodded firmly as the kettle clicked, announcing it was done boiling. "Good. I forget my real name, not gone by it in decades, Hero I.D. is Gran Torino," he introduced, pouring water into the pot and filling the small kitchen with the scent of roses and something else.

Daichi rifled through his memory, "Gran Torino, Jet Quirk, a former A-ranked Hero, you took a step back fifteen years ago to teach at UA for a single semester, returned to Hero work for a lesser B-ranked office, and have remained with them since," he rattled off perfunctorily even as he tilted his head and frowned at him, "It is presumptuous of me, but how do you fit in with this family?" he asked curiously as the old man returned to the pan of steamed vegetables on the stove as the tea-leaves seeped.

"All Might's mentor was a dear friend of mine, when she passed, she asked me to keep an eye on him. That year I taught at UA was for his benefit. When Harii came into the picture, he called me in to help, been here ever since," he explained flatly as he prodded the vegetables a bit.

Daichi choked on his own spit. _This was All Might's teacher?!_

 _ **000**_

Because of his Quirk, Harii's level of energy was often dependent on his body temperature. The colder he was the more sluggish and sleepy he would become, the cooler he was the weaker his empathy became meaning that he needed to cool off before he could get any decent level of sleep. Bath-time often saw him becoming semi-hyperactive for a time, and aware of the emotions of everyone in the building instead of just in their little apartment. It was unavoidable that Harii would have had to mature before his years because of this.

"What do you think of him?" Toshinori asked lazily as he soaked sore muscles in the hottest water the taps could provide, thankful that One for All gave him some insane durability otherwise he'd have never been able to tolerate the scolding temperatures that his son preferred.

Harii hummed happily as he splashed his toy sharks and turtles in the water, clashing them together in an epic battle that he didn't particularly want to be distracted from. The blond chuckled, his chest movements causing his son to slip a little deeper into the water from where he had been perched on his stomach, "Daddy!" he objected stringently as he used his father's knee to sit back up again.

"Sorry, sorry. So? Nighteye, what do you think, really?" he prompted again, grinning as his son shimmied up his chest to reach over his head for one of the toy frogs on the shelf above him.

"Mmmm, he's weird. Kinda..." the child trailed off trying to think of a word as he grabbed his boat instead and sat back staring down at the colourful plastic toy. "Like this!" he decided, showing his father the boat by practically shoving it in his face, "All hard. Not like Same-chan," he explained, holding up his rubber shark toy in the other hand and demonstrating how it could bend and flex. "But he's nice. Anyone who likes Daddy is nice," he stated authoritatively.

This child was going to be the death of him. Toshinori beamed fit to burst and bundled his baby up in a tight hug, smothering his face with kisses even as Harii laughed and tried to pull away, complaining about how Same-chan had to save Genbu-chan from the boat. And really, how could he pass something like that up? Nighteye could wait, Toshinori had to help his son save Genbu-chan in an epic water battle to challenge the ages – and piss Torino off with the amount of water they ended up splashing across the floor. He would clean it up after he put Harii to bed.

They had to end the epic battle when the old man hammered on the door, snapping at them that dinner was ready and to get their wrinkly butts out of the bath already, they were keeping their guest waiting and that was _rude_.

It was a damp father-son duo that finally left the bathroom in loose comfortable clothing, Toshinori pink cheeked and steaming slightly from the temperature as he tried to towel Harii's hair dry, the four year old scuttling on ahead of him to Nighteye as he sat stiffly at their little breakfast bar where they usually ate meals together. He rammed into the young man's leg and grinned up at him, small hands gripping his suit trousers.

Daichi blinked down at the tiny furnace attached to his leg, and even though he abhorred children, he couldn't help but soften a little at his idol's son beaming up at him with bright green eyes and damp black curls. He was less enthused when the child took that as an invitation to flame _into_ his lap, making him jerk backwards and nearly off the stool he was perched on – if not for a broad, equally hot, hand catching him between the shoulderblades.

"Harii, what have I told you about teleporting onto people without permission?" All Might scolded firmly, easily supporting Daichi's entire upperbody weight with one hand even as he reached forward and plucked his son from his lap like an errant kitten using the back of the child's clothing.

"I'm only allowed to teleport onto you and Ino if you see me coming, or we're playing, and never out in public, or onto other people under any circumstances," the child unhappily recited, clearly something he had been told before, the little gremlin.

"My apologies, Nighteye," All Might said to him as he gently righted the young man with a gentle push and took a seat next to him, sitting his son on his lap, not even twitching when the child immediately planted a foot into his groin, Daichi's respect climbed eight notches higher. The little empath must have noticed rather quickly because he was immediately scrambling backwards with a squeak of apology. All Might chuckled when the child cuddled up close mumbling apologies, wrapping large muscular arms around him in a hug and planting kisses on his face and head. Clearly they were a very affectionate family, not that Daichi could imagine All Might being anything but to his child (he resolutely ignored the small sting of envy with practised ease, his father had never been in the picture).

Harii turned his head to stare at him and held his hand out from within the circle of his father's arms. He flexed his fingers in Daichi's direction, staring at him.

Bewildered, the young man reached out and the child immediately latched onto his fingers, "Don't be sad," he said anxiously.

"Sad?" All Might asked, twisting his head, golden blond mixing with curly black as he rested his chin on his son's tiny head.

The child nodded, "Miya-san is sad, but, he feels like Junko-san when she sees us," he explained as best he could.

All Might ran a hand through his son's hair, watching him with guarded eyes, "That's envy, Firecracker. Junko-san feels like that because she can't have a baby, she hurt her tummy. She wants one, and when she sees you, she wants a little more because you're so cute."

Harii stared at the increasingly uncomfortable Daichi who was reminded _yet again_ that this child was a powerful empath, powerful enough to have picked up on that old hurt, that background envy of others having good paternal relationships. Now the child was aware of how utterly mortified and embarrassed he was at being called out on it. Daichi tried to drop his hand, but Harii had an... _inhumanly_ powerful grip on his fingers, too powerful to be anything but a Quirk, but...

"I made you unhappy squirmy inside ("embarrassed," All Might supplied with a wildly twitching mouth), I'm sorry," the child told him earnestly.

Thankfully Daichi was saved from having to respond when Gran Torino slammed the large pot of chicken curry in front of them with a scowl, "Enough chatter, dinner's ready!"

 _ **000**_

Sufficed to say, Sir Nighteye's introduction to the world as All Might's first and only side-kick set almost every news outlet practically on fire. Nighteye had a _non-combat_ Quirk, what was All Might thinking? Such recklessness was highly irregular for the Hero rapidly becoming known as the Symbol of Peace!

And then they saw Nighteye in action.

Genius level intellect, near encyclopedic knowledge and perfect recall of all former and active Heroes and Villains, a cool logical mind capable of planning and executing a hundred scenarios in a split second, and the physical athleticism to put more than a few Front Line combat Pro-Heroes to shame. Sir Nighteye was a highly cerebral _powerhouse_ in a very unassuming and stoic package. He was there to _support_ All Might, not ride his coattails or copy his image, which meant in order to do his job effectively, he needed to excel in those areas the blond did not and cover the bases that a villain may view as a weak-point.

With Nighteye's support and efficiency backing All Might's overwhelming power, charisma, and dedication to saving lives, their mission draw hit such a high that Might Offices were required up expand and upgrade even further as they received the clearance to perform even S-ranked anti-villain operations. Something that only Endeavour Offices had in Tokyo thus far. With the increase of staff required, they had to expand the office physically as well, buying up the three next-door allotments and beginning construction to combine the four office blocks into one. They shuffled their most experienced and hard-working support staff, the men and women that had been with them since the start and were considered by and large the most trustworthy within the administration into their new S-ranked operations, and hired replacements to handle the lesser mission requests of B's, C's, and D's, leaving their senior supports to handle A's and S-ranked missions. Finance ended up with two floors of one building entirely to themselves, they only had to share that building with Business and Marketing, both of which had tripled in size since the inception of Might Offices. Meanwhile the remaining three offices hooked themselves into city wide surveillance, record keeping, and who knew what else. Toshinori hired them to handle his logistics so all he had to do was collect the pertinent information for dealing with villains and get on with his job.

The only problem with the sudden upgrade was the change in his work hours. It was hard to say who was more upset about it, he himself, or Harii.

The former already felt as though he were missing far too much of his baby boy's childhood, and as much as he _lived_ to be a Pro-Hero, had worked towards it and for it his whole life, he was still very much a doting father who had just had what little time he had set aside for his young son cut in _half_ near enough. It was breaking his heart. Harii on the other hand was both upset and furious that Daddy was now spending more time with Daichi than with him and Ino-jiji. Tantrums became more common in the morning as Harii clung to his father's leg or cape to try and convince him to stay. Evenings would see a return of that clinginess where Harii would insist on doing everything with his father from eating in his lap, bathing together, and going to bed together. If Daichi returned with Toshinori in the evenings after work, Harii's behaviour got worse, add in the adorable glares and refusal to speak to the side-kick anymore – something Harii would often forget about, and then remember later in the evening while in the middle of playing with him, or chattering about something that had happened earlier, and clam up immediately. As far as Harii was concerned, Daichi was trying to steal his Daddy, and that wasn't fair. Harii didn't mind _sharing_ Daddy, since he liked Daichi too, and everyone was always telling him that he should share with others. But Daichi wasn't allowed to take Daddy away. That was _stealing_ and _wrong_ , and only Villains did that!

He was so cute.

Far too cute to be going to pre-school Toshinori felt. His baby couldn't be growing up that fast! It wasn't allowed! It didn't even feel like a full _year_ since he first picked up his tiny bean of a baby from that basket back in England on a cold November morning. And yet, here he was, bright eyed, bouncy, running hither and yon, chattering and questioning, getting into mischief and having adventures in the laundry basket, travelling to the moon in a cardboard box... He needed to stop growing up.

 _ **000**_

It took some doing, especially with how clingy Harii had become, but they found a Pre-school with good teachers able to handle difficultly Quirked children. But again, while Harii was popular and friendly with everyone, he didn't truly connect to any of the other children, none of them managed to earn the title of 'bestfriend' – though Toshinori near enough spat his drink _through_ the living room wall like a bullet when Harii matter of factly told him he had a girlfriend _and_ a boyfriend at school. He aged ninety years and told his son he wasn't allowed boyfriends or girlfriends until he was thirty. Harii seemed to accept that ruling easily enough, even if Torino mocked him mercilessly for it later. He was _not_ scared of being second best, thank you.

Harii was just far too young for such things.

Then...

"Daddy, why don't I have a Mummy?" his son asked curiously as they sat on the train home after Pre-school one afternoon. "I have a Daddy, and a Jiji, and a Miya, but no Mummy. And I'm the only one. Even Tobue-kun has a Mummy, and he has no Daddy."

This was not a conversation he wanted to have on a crowded train, but if Harii was still looking at him like that even after feeling his reluctance then he _really_ wanted an answer, now, and not later back at the house. How to explain this?

He wet his lips as he stroked a hand through his son's hair, "...Villains got to her, a long time ago," he explained as gently as he could, "She went to live in the Pure World, with my teacher, Nana-san."

Harii seemed to mull that one over for a time, playing with his father's fingers as he sat in his lap. "What was she like?" he asked after a while, craning his head up to look at him.

"I... don't know. I never met her, Firecracker," Toshinori admitted slowly, "I found you afterwards, your aunt didn't – couldn't take care of you so she gave you to me."

Green eyes peered solemnly up at him in silence for far too long, Toshinori knew his son was picking up on his fear and insecurities. He didn't think his heart could take it if Harii said he wasn't his real Dad because they lacked a blood connection, he knew their society put a lot of weight on such connections, that adopted children were mercilessly teased for not being related to their parents, or for having their parents leave them. He couldn't... He didn't want Harii to face that, think that, or feel that.

"You chose me then," his son decided before twisting around and hugging him tightly. "Thank you for choosing me. I'll be the best son ever! Just, I promise I'll do better, I'll be nicer to Miya, and clean more, and help Ino-jiji cook! Please don't get rid of me!"

Alarm shot through him as he wrapped his arms around his baby, "Get rid of you?!" he echoed in distress.

"I'm not – you don't _have_ to keep me, you might change your mind – like Tobue-kun's Daddy did when he didn't get a Quirk," the child explained, his voice breaking into a sob against his neck. Oh – oh no, Harii really _was_ doubting their little family! Without a blood connection he thought his place wasn't secure –

Toshinori showered his face with kisses, making sure to kiss away the strangely sweet instead of salty tears in the process. "You're mine. You're mine, you're mine, you're mine. I'm keeping you. I love you _**so**_ much, never let _anyone_ make you believe otherwise. You're stuck with me. I'm never letting go of you, never, never letting anyone take you away from me," he swore in a fierocious whisper, squeezing the four year old tightly and rocking them both from side to side.

Anyone trying to steal his baby away had best be prepared for the United States of Smash.

 _ **000**_

No one saw it coming.

It was late, Harii had just finished a bath and been put down for the night. He was still co-sleeping with Toshinori and would probably continue to until Elementary school when Gran Torino returned to his own home, freeing up the other bedroom for Harii's use when he was old enough.

The two Pro-Heroes were sat up to the breakfast bar, drinking beer as they went through case files together.

" – increase of activity here. It follows the old MO, but there's no way he would be that sloppy," Torino complained suspiciously as he jabbed a gnarled finger at the papers on the table, sitting back to take a drag on his can after.

Toshinori nodded, "Agreed. He was practically leading me by the nose in America, it's like a breadcrumb – " he cut himself off with a yelp, jerking back even as his arms rose to catch his son, the four-year-old flaming directly into his lap, face _streaming_ with tears, half screaming in terror as he threw himself into his father's chest.

"There's – "

"Harii! What's – "

" – Bad man!"

Their voices were a total mess as they accidentally spoke over each other until Harii wailed, " _ **THERE'S A BAD MAN HURTING KEIKO-CHAN!**_ " he screeched, hard enough to crack the windows.

Keiko was one of their downstairs neighbours, a cheerful young woman in her early twenties with a little crush on Toshinori that everyone was politely ignoring due to the age difference. She was kind and always happy to keep an eye on Harii if either of them had to run off and do some unexpected Heroing for whatever reason, she claimed it would be good practice for when she got her teaching licence. She was probably one of the last people in the building that any of them wanted anything bad to happen to.

Torino was on his feet and out of the front door before his beer can had a chance to hit the floor.

Which was when Harii's screaming too a hysterical edge and tripled in volume. Toshinori could feel his ribs beginning to bruise as the soundwaves vibrated through his chest – terror thrumming through his body, and none of it his own.

"I can't feel her! _I can't feel her! Keiko went black I can't_ _ **feel her!**_ " Harii screamed hysterically, hands gripping the fabric of his shirt hard enough to tear the fabric.

Oh kami no. Please no. Please no. Don't – Keiko was too young! Harii was too young! Please, not a murder. Don't let his son have experienced a murder through his empathy!

 _ **000**_

Keiko survived. Barely.

Torino managed to subdue her ex-boyfriend and get her to a hospital emergency room before she bled out, just in the nick of time. Small mercies. She would wear the scars from the attempted murder for the rest of her life, but at least she could _have_ one.

Harii's scars were no less permanent, or traumatic.

His separation anxiety went through the roof, he refused to even leave the flat – flaming straight back inside if taken out, and immediately going into a melt down whenever someone left the apartment be it for work or groceries. If any of them returned injured, Toshinori would have all his bedding dragged out and tucked around the injured party, along with all of Harii's soft toys, and the first aid kit from under the sink. Only Daddy was given bunny though.

Because of the drastic change in his son's behaviour, Toshinori scheduled his Quirk Counselling two years early with a specialist. Getting Harii out of the house was a major struggle in of itself when it came time for his appointment though. He flamed back inside in a total panic three times before Toshinori wrapped him up in his favourite planet with bunny, making a baby burrito he carried with him in both arms as his son buried his face into his collarbone and squeezed his eyes shut in abject terror.

But they got there in the end. Never mind the odd looks they received on the train or the streets that made Harii whimper into his father's skin. They got there, and the doctor would hopefully be able to help. Under normal circumstances, Toshi would not have been allowed into the appointment with his son, but the total fear fuelled meltdowns he was experiencing rendered that rule more dangerous and detrimental than either the councillor or Toshinori were willing to risk. Bursting into flame and screaming anything made of glass or crystal into shattering wasn't something the councillor could handle, Toshinori assumed. But he'd never _had_ Quirk counselling, so what did he know? Maybe they were better suited to dealing with rogue Quirk Backlash than even Heroes?

Taking one look at the childfriendly plush office he was shown to, he could conclusively confirm that they weren't. So much flammable material, so many class awards and big windows. This office was a tiny deathtrap for a child with Harii's quirks.

The man that welcomed them was small, and unassuming, with an awkward smile and tired creases around his eyes.

"Good morning Yagi-san, and Yagi-chan. I am Yuki Minoru, I hear there's been a bit of an incident?" he probed kindly as he gestured them into seats before sitting down himself on the green armchair in front of his desk.

Toshi lowered himself onto the blush fabric armchair, well aware that Harii wouldn't be vacating his lap any time today so ignoring the couch. "Thank you for squeezing us in so short notice," he said, running his fingers through his son's dark hair, "Yes, but 'bit' of an incident might be understating the situation."

"What can you tell me, Yagi-san?" the councillor prompted neutrally.

"My son is... an uncommonly powerful empath. Even at his current age he has an awareness of roughly twenty-twenty five feet around him. Enough to read the four apartments next to us, above and below us as well. Last week, our downstairs neighbour was attacked. An attempted murder," he explained solemnly, Harii whimpering tearfully into his neck as Toshi ran his fingers through his hair again in an effort to sooth him, "Harii was unfortunately an intimate spectator to the incident. Understandably it has left him traumatised."

"Hence, why you are here," the councillor concluded neatly with an expansive hand gesture. Toshinori nodded. The man rubbed his chin thoughtfully before leaning back, "This is no small issue to be resolved with just the one meeting. I do _hate_ to ask, especially with such a delicate situation, but better I do than don't and have to stop at some crucial moment in the future – can you _afford_ prolonged treatment, Yagi-san? Mental health services are sadly not cheap, and this is an issue that will take _time_ and effort to work through. One that is best continued with instead of stopping and starting as and when funds will allow," he explained apologetically.

"Whatever you need, however much it costs. Money is no issue," the Pro-Hero assured him quietly, running his fingers through his son's hair, feeling his tiny firebrand body trembling violently in his comforter, the strange tingle of his tears on Toshinori's skin.

"Yagi-san – " the councillor began, his tone politely doubtful and a little apologetic, only to have his voice freeze, sticking in his throat like a frightened animal as _burning_ blue eyes pinned him in place.

" _What – ever – it – takes._ "

 _ **000**_

Despite seeing Yuki-sensei for over a month, it wasn't until several of their neighbours, including Keiko, moved out that they realised there was more to what was going on than just _Harii's_ trauma over the incident.

It was everyone else in the building as well.

Keiko's attack had shaken everyone to the core, it left everyone in the building frightened, paranoid, and upset. No one felt safe anymore. And Harii was practically an emotional sponge, he absorbed _all_ of those fears, subconscious and conscious, all of those negative emotions that as a _four year old_ he didn't know how to process or handle, and ended up _broadcasting_ and accidentally amplifying the already existing negativity, and then feeding off that heightened emotion again. Rinse, repeat, until he was fully in the grips of a meltdown, unable to handle the emotional overload.

None of them cottoned onto this fact until Keiko moved back in with her parents up in Yokohama, followed by several of their other neighbours moving away for various reasons. Almost _immediately_ the more worrying behaviours died down, Harii was still quiet and clingy, but he no longer outright panicked or melted down when they had to leave the flat. He could, and eventually did, return to Pre-school with an explanation of what happened to ease the way and help the Senseis' keep an eye out for any worrying changes in behaviour (apart from a new tendency to fuss over the wellbeing of others more than before, they hadn't seen any significant changes outside a reluctance to nap, which was common in children his age).

Toshinori still took him to see Yuki-sensei, just in case. The last thing they wanted was for Harii to develop a resentment towards his Quirk, it would not help his mental health in the slightest.

 _ **000**_

Harii did not tolerate bullies.

It didn't take _long_ for more violent tendencies and behaviours to start cropping up, but the vehemence in which they did was startling. On top of his new 'mother henning' tendencies, he had developed a violent dislike of bullies and had terrified two of his classmates already by flying at them from across the room and shoving himself between them and Tobue-kun with an inhuman screech of fury as his whole body burst into flame. The boys never went near Tobue again, and while Harii didn't throw any punches or lay a finger on the boys, the same could not be said of other incidents outside the classroom.

The four year old was completely fearless, and willing to tangle with far older children as well if he felt it necessary. Toshinori and Torino had picked him up from playgroup with bruises and bloody lips more than once, the problem there was that they were all Pro-Heroes, and didn't have the faintest idea of how to talk him out of such behaviour.

They tried to leave it to Yuki-sensei, but there was little change in his behaviour beyond a decrease in his usual clinginess. In fact, as if to make up for lost time, he seemed to put forward more effort into becoming independent, and would fiercely argue with anyone that tried to help him. He insisted on dressing himself, tying his own shoe-laces, learning to read and write on his own, even washing his own hair at bathtime. He fought naptime tooth and nail with an entirely inappropriate degree of vehemence, and despite what he liked to think, he was still four almost five, and needed a nap whether he liked it or not. Thankfully these were all common behaviours for his age group according to the parenting books, so it was actually something of a relief to see.

Enough so that Toshinori was willing to make their yearly pilgrimage to the Midoriya's for the boys' fifth birthdays. Before hand, Toshi had been too nervous of upsetting Harii's emotional state further as he was always rather sad and listless after a visit. Despite the years, Izu-chan still firmly occupied the bestfriend slot in Harii's life – the boys missed each other terribly when they were separated after every birthday celebration.

 _ **000**_

"Izu!"

It was adorable watching the two reunite, Izuku always seemed stunned to immovability at the piercing gleeful shriek of his bestfriend, allowing Harii to crash into him with a flying tackle hug.

The group had chosen to meet at the local playpark for a joint birthday party – Izuku had been playing in a corner of the sandbox with young Bakugo and a few of the other local children when Toshinori had shown up and unleashed his son on the unsuspecting group. He laughed heartily as Inko and Bakugo-san giggled at the scene, Harii had bowled his friend over in the sand, sending them into a giggling tangle of limbs as Izuku finally recognised just whom had suction cupped themselves to him like an octopus.

"Ah! You're kicking sand over my castle!" young Bakugo howled over the happy giggling.

"Thank you for coming, Yagi-san," Inko giggled, wiping her eyes as she beamed up at him.

"Thank you for having us, Midoriya-san, I cannot tell you how lovely it is to see both you and young Izuku again," Toshinori admitted as he sat on one of the benches next to them, glancing over at the children as he heard a number of pops, cracks, and bangs to accompany young Bakugo's raised voice. "I see young Bakugo-kun has come into his Quirk, you must be proud," he said to Bakugo-san who huffed a wry smile.

"A perfect mix of mine and my husband's. Nitroglycerin palms. If only I could be as proud of his personality. Little shit is gearing up to be a bully and with the teachers letting him get away with it, nothing _I_ say is going to reign him in," she complained tiredly as she patted a subdued Inko on the shoulder.

"And young Izuku? I imagine he must have come into himself by now," Toshinori continued with a warm smile.

She didn't have a chance to answer as a loud shout from the children caught their attention, just in time to see young Bakugo lash out at Harii – Izuku tucked protectively behind him – who caught his wrist and then, in a well trained judo move, physically _threw_ the blond child ten feet across the playpark. Young Bakugo landed hard on his back, winded and struggling for breath, but none the worse for wear.

" _HARII!_ " Toshi roared across the playpark, making several of the children jump near enough out of their skin and part like the red sea for him as he jumped to his feet and marched over. Not his son though, in that new, strangely aggressive way he had come into recently, he squared his shoulders and met his father's anger and disappointment head on without flinching.

"He was bullying Izu! He wanted to hurt us! He _wanted_ to!" the child explained forcefully, turning to glare at the blond boy now being helped up by his mother.

"That is no excuse for _throwing_ him across the playground!" the blond Hero scolded firmly, ignoring the way Harii's bottom lip trembled.

"He tried to explode us! Izu doesn't have any training! He could have been hurt! Baka-go is a bully, and a wanna-be Villain!"

"No I'm not!" the blond child shouted back wetly, roughly scrubbing his face, "I'm gunna be the best Hero! The number one! Better than All Might even!"

"Well! You – You don't act like it!" Harii fired back furiously.

Toshinori caught his arm and pulled him gently away, "That is enough, Yagi Harii Nao," he rumbled, "I am very disappointed in your behaviour right now. Time out. Ten minutes with me at the benches."

Harii's lip wobbled but he took a deep breath and pointed at young Bakugo, "And him?" he asked wetly, almost accusingly.

"Young Bakugo's punishment will be his mother's decision, like yours is mine," his father rumbled before physically picking him up and removing him from the playground, pausing only briefly to ruffle Izuku's hair as he left, but didn't listen as the child stuttered, torn on which of his friends he should defend.

Harii was tearful, but stubbornly silent during his timeout, stood to attention next to the benches with the adults, young Bakugo on the otherside. His mother had spanked him briefly for picking fights, and put him in timeout as well. Only the blond had started to cry as all five year olds would have upon being told off, Harii being the exception for whatever reason.

 _ **000**_

Harii blinked over his mocchi. With his timeout over, he had immediately gone back to playing with Izuku while Baka-go had to serve another five minutes because he tried to sneak off and got caught, his mother nearly doubted it when he called her a bad word, but he eventually shut his mouth and sullenly served his time. Now they were sitting down to eat the various party foods that the adults had brought out.

"So?" Harii asked, honestly bewildered.

"I'm _Quirkless_ ," Izuku repeated stringently, as if that was supposed to mean something.

Harii stared at him some more, before he stuffed the rest of his mocchi into his mouth to give himself time to think of a response. They had been talking about Heroes, Izu-chan was a big fan, so they were chattering about his favourites when Harii said one day that they would be someone's favourite too. Izu-chan had gotten all quiet before telling him that he was Quirkless. So clearly that had something to do with his being a Hero...

"You can be a Hero without a Quirk," Harii stated firmly.

Izuku jerked and stared at him with huge green eyes, the exact same shade as Harii's own. The empath had always secretly called Izuku his brother in his head, they had the same eye colour, and the same fluffy hair. If Auntie Inko didn't always feel so sad when Heroics were brought up, or bitter and hurt and frightened whenever Izuku's Daddy was, then he would have tried to get his Daddy and Auntie Inko together. But they didn't feel the same way about each other that Ino-jiji did about his lady friend. And Harii had felt their neighbours love each other the way mummies and daddies should enough to know that _their_ parents didn't, and probably couldn't.

Harii could feel his disbelief, his hope, and the _doubt_ that churned hard and sour in his stomach.

"Sir Midnight is a Hero," he pointed out, ignoring the way Izuku drooped and mumbled about how he _had_ a Quirk, "But he never uses it. He doesn't even _like_ it. He keeps up with and supports All Might without even using his Quirk. He can only use it once a day too. So he does all his Hero work without it," the child pointed out seriously, pointing a finger into Izuku's face. "It just means you have to train harder than everyone else! Gotta think more! Your brain is your best weapon!"

Green eyes widened and Harii nodded decisively as he jumped to his feet.

"Up! I'm going to show you how to throw a punch!"

 _ **000**_

Inko wasn't happy.

"My son is _Quirkless_ ," she sobbed angrily, hating herself for bursting into tears as she tried to explain this oh so important reason, "He _can't_ be a Hero! It could get him _killed_!" she exclaimed.

"I understand, but there's plenty of Heroes who don't use their Quirks in their work, I can't see – " Toshinori tried to sooth.

"He is _my_ son!" she exclaimed, nearly hysterical. "I can't – I can't stand back and watch him – watch him put himself in h-harm's way! He _doesn't have a_ _ **quirk**_! I don't – don't appreciate your son en _couraging_ him to continue his – it's too _dangerous_!" she sobbed, hiccuping and stuttering horribly. Hating herself for doubting her son, but refusing to back down because that was her _baby_ and he wanted to put himself in danger without even once understanding what it was he was trying to do, the unfair world he was trying to tackle by himself!

"Inko – "

"Just – just _go_ , Yagi-san," she whimpered, dabbing at her eyes, "My son is Quirkless. I wouldn't expect you to understand," she whispered.

 _ **0000**_

 **(ALL THE INKO HUGS) Poor momma is trying her best, she's making mistakes, but she's trying to protect her baby the only way she knows how.**


	4. Chapter 4

**PROTECTORS**

 _ **000**_

All Might finds an unwanted baby on a doorstep, and the future takes a few steps to the left. Fatherhood, Heroing, growing pains, and love. Everything and nothing changes, all at once.

 _Slash, Pre-canon, semi-AU, Magic and Quirks exist._

 _ **000**_

 **CHAPTER FOUR**

Toshinori was not a coward, but he left as Inko desired, giving Harii just enough time to bid young Izuku goodbye, possibly for the last time. The sight of his son hugging his bestfriend tightly and planting a sloppy kiss to one freckled cheek and telling him that he could do it, he just had to work hard, made it feel like there was ice lodged in Toshinori's stomach. Harii of course noticed immediately as soon as he got close enough, and gripped his father's hand extra tightly as they walked back to the train station. He had learned young that when people felt bad, sometimes they didn't want to talk about it until they were somewhere quiet and alone.

"Daddy, what's wrong?" he eventually asked when they got onto the train and were sat quietly at the back of one of the carriages. There were barely any people around them so it was almost guaranteed their conversation wouldn't be overheard, but Toshinori was still... sad.

"Midoriya-san was... You know Izu-chan doesn't have a Quirk, right?" he asked gently, his son nodded, "His Mummy is worried that Hero work will be too dangerous for him. She's quite upset with me now." He wasn't going to lie, he did agree with her. Even he had to get a Quirk before he could apply for UA, before he could pursue his dream of becoming a Pro-Hero. But they were children, surely it wouldn't hurt to entertain the idea for a little longer? When Izuku was older, undoubtedly he would come to the conclusion of its impossibilities under his own power, and that would be heartbreaking enough by itself. They didn't need to crush his dreams already, so young. But Toshinori didn't say it, couldn't really explain it without telling his son that Inko hadn't liked the fact that he was teaching Izuku how to fight, how to defend himself. He didn't want Harii to think that this separation was his fault.

His son wrinkled his nose, "But he _can_ be a Hero." Toshinori swallowed back his reflexive refusal of that, but Harii must have felt it anyway because the tiny warmth burrowed into his side sat up and away. "He _can_ , Daddy," the child insisted sharply, a rare frown of disappointment on his face as he stared up at him.

"It – isn't that simple, Firecracker," he tried to explain softly, laying a hand on his child's tiny back. The five year old glowered up at him.

"But it is. Miya doesn't use his Quirk, and he still keeps up with you. Izu doesn't _need_ a Quirk to be a Hero, he just needs the right kind of training!" he protested.

Toshinori huffed a small smile, bending down to his son's height on order to kiss his forehead was difficult in these tiny train seats, but he managed it in the end, pressing his lips to that odd scar on his forehead. "I wish I had your faith, sweetheart."

Harii clambered into his lap, "I have enough faith for both of us, Daddy," the child assured him happily as he pressed his hands against the window to watch the scenery as it whizzed past. "Just you wait. Izuku and I will go to Hero School when we're big boys. And we'll work for you and Miya when we finish, and save lots and lots of people, and then you can come home and play with me more."

"Sounds nice," the blond decided fondly, leaning against the window and watching the world pass by, soaking up the warmth and happiness of his son as he avidly described his future with his bestfriend, and how they would be amazing heroes.

He really did wish he had Harii's faith.

 _ **000**_

The year passed quietly, or as quietly as it ever could for a family of Pro-Heroes. There were a few minor unexplainable incidents, like Toshinori's hair turning green after an argument with his son, all the lights in the flat exploding randomly during the night, and of course, less unexplainable, Harii getting into even _more_ fights. Especially now that he was playing with the other local children at the playpark down the road. Gran Torino had been forced to deal with more than a few pissed off parents who quickly remembered that they had better things to do upon realising they were confronting a Pro-Hero about his _empathic_ ward attacking their child. Those talks very rarely went as they anticipated when the tables were turned on them, and Torino started to demand what it was their child was doing that was so objectionable that his grandson would go for them like that.

Finding out their 'precious little darlings' were bullying little assholes was probably the only amusing thing that Torino found in those situations. That and the way Harii would shuffle and scowl when he got told off but refuse to say he would never do it again. The difficulty was in punishing him afterwards. They couldn't very well punish him for standing up against bullies to protect his classmates, it was technically what they did as _jobs_. Using violence was also unacceptable but again, _they did so for a job_ , so punishing him for following their examples, and the examples of every other Pro-Hero whom he looked up to was...

In the end, he found himself having his gaming privileges and internet access revoked along with a stern talking to about contacting the _appropriate_ authorities to handle troublemakers. He was just a child, he might get hurt getting into fights like that, and that would make both Torino and Toshinori very sad. Harii promised he would try harder, but nothing was said about no longer fighting, it was probably the best they were going to get. He was smart like that, and only getting smarter.

They needed to get him some non-violent hobbies, things he could do at home – where it was safe, and he wasn't going to be getting into fights with children twice his age, height, and weight. Despite his fears, Toshinori was still proud of his son for being brave enough to stand up for his classmates and peers against such odds, but he was also terrified that his little bean was going to get badly hurt one of these days. Teaching him how to gage and assess whether a situation was too much for him, and how to get the attention of the nearest Pro-Hero had thus far been in-effective, going in one ear and out the other, and Toshinori had more than a few nightmares of his little boy accidentally confronting a legitimate villain and refusing to back down only to get hurt, or _killed_ in the following fight.

They still took him to attend all of his martial arts classes, it was a good way to bleed off that excess energy while teaching him something productive, but on top of that they started looking into Crafting clubs, music, theatre, swimming, other sports, anything they could think of.

Out of it all, the phoenix child took to music over everything. He thoroughly enjoyed banging away on both piano and drums, and had already learned all the notes on the violin and how to read sheet music. But above all else, he loved to sing.

Downside – or up, depending on your point of view – singing often triggered his extra vocal cords by accident, allowing for empathic projection. So while he had the voice of an angel (and it wasn't just fatherly boasting and pride that made him think so), depending on what he sang and how, he could move a room to joy, to tears, and even on one memorable occasion, he sent a trio of men running away in utterly pants wetting terror. As soon as he figured out how to control it, and manipulate just what emotions he was trying to convey, he started screaming bullies into submission instead of just punching them. And suddenly Toshinori and Torino had all new, and considerably more serious, complaints to deal with – using one's Quirk in an urban area was illegal even if children were given considerably more leeway than anyone else because they hadn't yet figured out how to control it. Bullying accusations were now being thrown in _Hari's_ direction by the parents of several of the little brats who had run home crying wolf about him.

Again, thankfully, they always seemed to find it difficult to justify their child's behaviour when they came nose to nose with the Pro-hero Guardian of an empath known not to tolerate bullies even to the detriment of his own physical health.

It was beginning to feel a little like every time Toshinori turned around his son was discovering new aspects of his powers, or experimenting with the ones he had. On top of that, the physical mutations were becoming more and more apparent as well. Harii's hair colour was also changing. Pictures of him as a small(er) child showed deep jet black hair, compared with now, there was a faint but noticeable red shade to his hair. Likely as not, it would get more pronounced the older he became, it wasn't uncommon for a child's hair to change colour like this, though typically it was from _blond_ to something _darker_ , not the otherway around. It only became obviously quirk related when, ruffling his son's hair, Toshinori felt the delicate shafts of feather down in the lightening mass of dark burgundy hair. Harii was growing feathers. Unnoticed for the moment because of how fluffy they were, but combing back his thick wild hair, it was easy to see the stiff spines.

On top of that, he wasn't getting any heavier despite his increasing height and the puppy-fat. He was a well fed, highly active little boy so despite his slenderness, he still possessed a cute little pot-belly. However. He hadn't gotten any heavier. It was unnoticable to Toshinori given his physical strength, but Nighteye had been confused and concerned when he picked Hari up during their last playfight and found the child barely weighed as much as a large cat. X-rays and doctors appointments confirmed that he had hollow bones, like a bird, and while his muscle fibres were strong, they weren't as dense as a normal human's. Everything about his body was developed to make him lighter.

Only time would tell if his bones were as _strong_ as a human's despite their hollowness.

If they weren't, then his chances of a career as a Pro-Hero were null.

He would be a glass cannon that would destroy himself before he managed to do any harm to a villain.

On top of that, he was teleporting more often, often by accident – thank the Kami for his little tracking bracelet. Toshinori had been forced to use it more than once when his son teleported out of reflex when someone or something startled him. Usually he would flame himself to Gran Torino or Toshinori himself, sometimes even Nighteye, but if he didn't know where they were, or if they were out of range, he just ended up lost. One memorable time he ended up in a young family's bathtub, while they were in there.

It was very much a stroke of good luck, the Kendo family were very kind and Hari hit it off very well with their eldest daughter, Itsuka, and their son, Kenji. By the time Toshinori had managed to catch up with his wayward little boy Mrs Kendo had managed to not only wrangle him into taking a bath with her children, but had lent him some clothes, and fed him as well. Hari very much liked playing with Itsuka and asked earnestly if he could come back and play again sometime, which was perhaps the best reaction he'd had to anyone since Izuku. Of course Toshinori was going to say yes and eagerly accept Mrs Kendo's contact details.

Still, there were... _other_ incidents. Such as the time Hari nearly split his head open trying to teleport all the way to Musutafu.

He had been wholly determined to see Izuku, but didn't have the money for the train, and neither Daddy or Ino had the time to take him, so he had to do it himself. Musutafu was too far away to teleport in one jump, but maybe he could make it with multiple _little_ jumps? It was something to think about. Lot's of jumps were tiring, and he didn't really do more than one or two at a time – going all the way to Musutafu? What if he didn't find Izu before he fell asleep? He didn't want to get Nuu-moan-iya and die.

He was going to have to wear his hat, scarf, and mittens for this, so he didn't get cold.

Both Daddy and Ino were busy working, and he had finished his Kanji practice. If he wasn't in, they would think he was just down the park playing with the other children. It was actucally the perfect time to go on an adventure to find Izu.

He put his practice papers on the table so they would be easily seen, Ino and Miya liked to look them over and find errors to point out to him. There shouldn't be any, he had worked really hard this time. He quickly collected his favourite bag, a little knitted sling his Daddy made at their first Craft Club, it was red and yellow with a blue strap and a knobbly yellow AM on the front of it. He packed his hat, mittens, and scarf, he collected _two_ juices from the fridge because flaming was _thirsty_ work, and he tucked Bunny in with it all nice and safe. He thought about leaving his tracker behind, because Daddy was probably going to be upset that he tried to go and see Izu without him, but ultimately he decided not to. Daddy would be much more upset and scared if he did, and he didn't want to scare his Dad if something happened and he couldn't find him.

Time to go.

The five-almost-six year old closed his eyes and reached for that bright warm starlight that felt so uniquely Izu.

He was a _lot_ further away than Hari first thought. That was going to take a _squillion_ and one jumps to make, he thought with dismay pressing his lips together. How far was half? Still too much. Okay, half again? Still too far, but only by a _little_. So, half that again – _that_ was doable. Comfortable even.

Okay, half, and half, and half again. That meant... eight jumps.

He had never made eight jumps at once before. Or so many long ones.

It _felt_ safe, but he was still a little wary. Nuu-moan-iya was still dangerous.

He screwed his nose up and gripped his bag straps. He was never going to be able to see Izu if he stayed in here like a big scaredy cry-baby!

He squeezed his eyes shut, took a deep breath, and _JUMPED_ –

And landed in a park, scattering several children with shrieks and squeals of fright.

He peeked his eyes open. It was a nice park, lots of grass for running and playing, a playpark over there with climbing frames and swings. A flower garden over there with benches and a pond full of ducks. He would have to remember this place for later.

"Hey! You!" one of the children blustered – right before Hari flamed away again.

He landed in the middle of a road.

Horns blared immediately and he yelped, hands flying up over his head as he jumped – landing hard in someone's back garden.

Winded, sweaty, and terrified, he sat down hard on his bottom to catch his breath.

Three jumps. He was tired, but he was almost half-way there. He just had to rest and have a drink now, it was like running a race, not to mention that car – he was going to have to be careful about where he aimed.

He rummaged his drink from his satchel and sipped while peering around the garden. It was lovely, with lots of flowers and butterflies. There was a little pond filled with fish, and he could see a fat calico cat sleeping comfortably on a warm sunny rock next to it, bird feeder hanging from a tree buzzing with activity as finches came and went, chirping and singing to one another. He was going to have to be careful of flaming away, he didn't want to set anything on fire, it was far too pretty to damage.

He wondered what Izu would say when he finally showed up. Hari wanted to see if he had started training, and spar with him – sparring was fun. He frowned around his juice drink, Baka-go had better not have tried to hurt him just because he didn't have a Quirk, or he was going to kick the blond boy's butt.

He hoped Izu would be happy to see him. It had been a while. And Hari had missed him _so much_.

Stowing his juice back into his bag, Hari got to his feet and carefully made his way to one of the larger rocks so he could flame away without damaging anything. Making sure he hadn't mislaid Bunny or any of his protective clothes, he climbed onto the rock and took a deep breath – and jumped.

The world slipped out from under his feet.

Hari screeched, flailing and twisting as he got a look at the river below him – his feet sliding off the metal railing he'd landed on, sending him toppling feet first towards fast running water.

He tried to grab the pavement, only to smack his forehead and eye against the stone lip of the embankment and bounce off with a howl of pain as the world exploded into bright light.

His fingers slipped and scrabbled on the stone as he dropped down towards the water – _and was suddenly yanked up_.

He felt himself being hoisted up around his middle and sobbed in relief as he was pulled against a firm warm chest. Not as wide as Daddy's, but strong. He felt kind, fear and concern thrummed through the stranger's body as he felt a muscular arm support him as they climbed up the side of the stone embankment.

While Izu felt like warm starlight, a flickering ember that promised so much more than what it was; Daddy felt like the sun, bright, and warm, not just the good parts but the bad too, sunburn and forest fires, sticky sweat and peeling skin; this person felt like moonlight, like cool evenings and warm beds, candles in windows, and flickering shadows. Hari had never felt anyone like this before, but regardless, he felt _safe_ in almost the same way as Daddy. While Daddy was bright like the sun, this person was a shadow, and Hari would never see what kind of dangers this person would save him from because he was the type to pull them into the darkness never to be seen, while Daddy would drag them out into the harsh light of day and defeat them to reassure everyone they were gone.

Already, he felt calmer as the stranger vaulted smoothly over the railings he slipped from before hand and crouched down so his feet could touch the pavement.

"Let me see your head," the stranger said, his voice deep but gentle as Hari felt his arms move from around his waist to cup his head, gently pulling back variegated red and black hair and feathers.

Obediently, the five year old did as he was told, blinking tearfully as he gripped the front of his rescuer's black sweater with bloody scraped fingers. He was a young man, probably only twenty or so, long wild black hair, dark eyes, it didn't look like he had shaved for a few days, and there was a patch on his cheek the same as Daddy sometimes had. His hands were big and rough, he had patches there too, and a bandage around his right wrist. He wore black clothes, a comfortable thick black sweater, black workman's trousers with lots of pockets, heavy boots, and a long grey scarf around his neck that must have been really _really_ long because he had to wrap it around himself lots and lots of times.

Hari whimpered when the young man's fingers probed the bump on his head.

"You're being very good for me, just hold still a little while longer," the man soothed, his concern and thoughtfulness thrumming like a steady hum in the back of Hari's head. Yes. This man was steady. _Solid_. "Well done, you held very still for me, thank you," he praised before gently running his hands down Hari's arms and lifting his hands up to be seen. "May I see these? Thank you," he said when the empath presented his palms without resistance.

The man rummaged a handkerchief from his pocket, "I'm sorry you caught me off duty, or I would be able to fix these up here and now. Hold this here, like that, thank you. Shall we poke our heads into one of these restaurants and ask if we can borrow their first-aid kit? I'm Eraserhead, a Pro-Hero," the dark haired man explained with an awkward half-smile. He was still, steady, concerned, and focused entirely on Hari's health, he didn't sense anything bad or dishonest about him.

But Ino and Miya had drilled him extensively.

"May I see your ID, please?" he asked hesitantly, rather than immediately follow after him. Anyone could _say_ they were a Pro, but only official Heroes had licences.

Surprise and approval flickered quicksilver across his senses, only the slightest widening of dark eyes to display it before the Hero was opening up his wallet, and thumbing out a small card for Hari to see. The child gently took it, and then tilted it to see the holographic print across it. Eraserhead-san was a UA graduate, his serial number started with a 'Ka' katakana.

"Thank you," he said before he returned it and allowed the young man to pick him up. "I'm Hari."

"Hello Hari, can you tell me what you were doing?" Eraserhead asked as he took a few steps down the road and knelt to pick up a fallen bag of shopping, probably his own Hari realised with a sting of guilt, he hoped nothing was damaged.

"I was trying to see Izu-chan. But I landed wrong and I slipped. I'm sorry for making you drop your stuff," he said, feeling that steady presence twitch a little in exasperation, almost like an unspoken sigh.

"I'd rather drop this than you," Eraserhead told him truthfully as he made his way into the tiny cafe a little bit further down the road. "Hi, can I borrow your first-aid kit? The child took a nasty spill," he said quietly to the girl behind the counter who nodded and immediately bustled off. "Well Hari, do your parents know where you are?" he asked as he chose a table towards the back of the cafe and sat him down on one of the chairs.

He presented the Hero with his wrist, showing him the tracking bracelet, "Daddy always knows where I am. Sometimes I get lost when someone scares me by accident," he admitted with an embarrassed blush.

Amusement blotted the man's presence, like a pale cloud of water-colour on wet fabric, there and gone, leaving just a shadowy after-image. "Does that happen often?" he asked steadily.

"Not really," he admitted, "They try to jump out at me at school, but I sense them before they can. I'm an emmy-path."

Surprise, just as quicksilver and quiet as the last time, "Empath, huh? And you can teleport. Your parents must be proud."

Hari nodded, "Daddy is, but he doesn't like it when I tell people. He's scared I'll be taken away. Ino-jiji says it's because I have too much energy so obviously I would have more abilities, I'm not working hard enough. Miya says it's good because I'll have more verse-a-till-a-tee when I grow up," he quoted carefully, feeling that pale cloud of amusement soaking across the man's quiet presence again.

It was then that the girl returned with the first aid kit and Eraserhead began to get out the sterilising wipes to clean up his hands. They stung, but ultimately weren't too bad as the dirt and moss and little bits of stone were cleaned away. He had scraped them bloody though, and now that they were clean, they were bleeding much more freely.

"The skin on your hands is thinner than everywhere else, except your head," Eraserhead explained gently as he dabbed a funny smelling ointment onto the scrapes, "So it's going to bleed more than you'd think. You're fine though. And you're very brave. Even big boys tend to cry when they hurt their hands like this."

He shrugged a shoulder, wincing a little at the gentle actions and how the ointment felt uncomfortably warm on his skin, "I... get into a lot of fights. I don't like bullies, so I'm used to getting hurt. I'm not big enough to stop the older kids yet," he admitted grumpily, pressing his lips together stubbornly when he felt the familiar hard dimming sensation of disapproval across the man's feeling.

"You shouldn't pick fights with bullies at your age," he stated firmly as he began to lay dressings over the more unpleasant grazes. "You should get a teacher, or someone else to help. Putting yourself into the fight could get you, _and_ the person you're trying to help hurt. And that means that the next person who comes along to stop the bullies has an even harder job – they have to save you _and_ the other person," he explained coolly before taking a roll of thin bandages out and beginning to wrap his hands.

Hari scowled down at his hands, "But the longer I take the more they get hurt," he muttered, "If I can do something, I shouldn't just... run away."

Eraserhead swatted his nose with the end of the roll of bandages, startling him into staring up at him, "It isn't running away," he assured the little boy seriously. "You're a child. It isn't your responsibility to help people. If someone is in danger, it is _your_ job to get yourself to safety _first_ and then get someone to go and help. Until you have the training to become a Pro-Hero, you'll just be getting underfoot and making more trouble for the people who are _supposed_ to be helping."

"But – "

He flinched as his nose was swatted again, "No buts."

"But I can do it though!"

"You shouldn't have to," was the firm, unyielding reply as his bandages were tied off. "Now. Come on, I'll walk you home. I want to talk to your Dad about getting your head checked at the very least."

Hari swallowed, "Umm..." he trailed off, looking desperately to one side as Eraserhead's hands came up under his armpits and lifted him from the chair once again.

"Um?" the man echoed, sounding unimpressed, but filled with a strange mixture of amusement and sinking dread. "Did you think I was going to let this slide, Hari-kun?" he asked mildly.

"UhM..." he squeaked, voice reverberating inhumanly as he gripped his bag tightly in both hands.

The twenty year old got to his feet and leaned back, folding his arms, and peering down his nose at Hari who shuffled nervously in front of him. The Hero was nowhere near as tall as his Daddy but Hari still felt very small in front of him as his fingers itched to grab hold of Bunny and hide his face in the soft yellow fluff.

"Daddy is at work," he deflected slowly, eyes canting to the side.

"I see... And where does he work?"

Hari wet his lips and shuffled his feet, "In... Tokyo."

Eraserhead stared at him, a dawning sense of realisation bleeding across his presence, "And you live not too far away, don't you?"

Hari nodded solemnly.

Eraser knelt down, "Did you teleport all this way, _without_ your father knowing about it?" he asked coolly, disapproval heavy and bitter as Hari cringed back.

"I didn't want to bother him," he defended quietly, "He's so busy all the time, and Ino-jiji is going home when I'm old enough to start Elementary so he's busy, and I didn't have the money for the train. Izu is my bestfriend, but he moved, and he doesn't have any friends where he is now because he doesn't have a Quirk and everyone is _stupid_ ," he exclaimed, scowling and getting more wound up, "And Bakago tried to hurt him last time and his friends thought it was fun! And – "

Eraser flicked the tip of his nose, cutting him off with a squawk as both his hands flew to his face to protect himself.

Exasperation, amusement, disapproval, respect, and a little bit of annoyance all bled across the Hero's feeling as he straightened up and extended a hand for him to take, "Be that as it may, Hari-kun, you still should have told your father. We will give him a ring so he can come and pick you up, _no arguments_ ," he added forcefully, making Hari's mouth snap shut with a click of teeth, "and we'll have a nice little chat – "

The ground shook with a heavy thud as they stepped out of the cafe. Hari squeaked and hid behind his legs.

"Uh oh," the child muttered, as people around them began to exclaim in excitement.

Eraser glanced to the small child, and then up at the smiling form of All Might as he straightened up and began to look around, casting dismissive but perfunctory smiles and greetings at the people around him, craning his head as he looked around for something... or someone... rather small. He glanced down at the child who looked a mixture of sheepish and nervous, a reaction that he had never seen a child have when faced with the Number One Hero, but one he'd seen more than once on a child confronted with a disapproving parent or guardian.

He scooped up the small child, who squeaked, his eyes going wide as the Hero tucked him up under his arm like a sack of potatoes and marched over to the blond Pro-Hero.

"All Might-san, I believe this is what you're looking for?" he called, gently righting the five year old and presenting him to the overly huge blond.

Hari smiled nervously at him, clutching his bag tightly as he drew his knees up, "H-hi."

The look on his father's face was anything but amused.

 _ **0000**_

 **Ickle Hari is in trouble now, but hopefully Aizawa has gotten through his stubborn fluffy little head about picking fights he can't win.**

 **As part of your Pressies this holiday, I have updated the following fics:**

 **Niflheim Academy  
Against My Nature  
Echoes of Green  
Storming Skies  
Protectors  
Playing with Fire  
Hand You're Dealt**


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